Finally, a finished pair of socks

I love, love, love these socks. LOVE them.

So, flashing back to a couple of months ago, once I had settled into the hotel, and finished off the OSBS and a present for my secret pal, I began these socks for B as a small thank you for project-managing the move (time, energy, planning and sheer physical labour).

I flew through the first leg pretty quickly, the yarn - Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, bought last year at Ally Pally - is soft and with my Addis, produced a lovely gauge, but to be honest, the colourway knitted up was pretty blah. Also, I clearly remember Gill saying that it would be more than enough for a pair of socks, but when I wound the skein into a large ball, I lost faith, because I was unsure how sock-big B's feet were, because the yarn was new to me, in short, because I am still a sock newbie, I am ashamed to say that I did not believe that the skein would suffice for two man-socks.

I bought a ball of Rowan 4-ply soft in a light olive colour, and boom, the CTH came alive. The Rowan shade matches one of the dyes in the CTH perfectly, and simply allowed all the different browns and greens to reveal themselves. I fell in love.

I chose the 4-ply merino because I was impatient, because I couldn't stop knitting these socks, although I knew that it was not a satisfactory substitute for heels and toes. I wasn't really aware of any solid sock yarn available in the UK, but at some point towards the end I searched online and found Opal solids and more upsettingly, a CTH solid in the exact same olive shade as in the multi. Patience, who's Patience?

These socks were knitted up very quickly (and at one point, from the same ball, not something I shall try again unless absolutely desperate), but were not finished quickly, as I had to keep getting B to try them on for size, before I could finish the toes. The picture to the left shows both socks with only the toe on one sock left to do. As you can see, I had quite a lot of yarn left, so could easily have added an inch to the cuffs.

Details
Pattern: basic cuff-down sock
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
Needles: 2.5mm DPNs for cast-on and 2.5mm Addi Turbo circular needles for body

I love these socks because:
1) they were a dream to knit, I will definitely be using CTH again
2) the addition of the olive toes and heels brought a dull colourway to life (but goodness, the amount of seaming at the end!)
3) they remind me of my long but happy stay in the hotel and knitting them on my longer commute.

Happily, B loves them too, and expressed surprise at the fine knit - not sure what he was expecting, thick cabled aran socks for trekking to the South Pole perhaps?

BTW - that first picture, see my new bathroom floor?