Summer Knitting

Summer knitting is slow. Nothing new. I've been grinding away on some socks, and am about halfway through the foot on sock #1, but haven't taken an new WIP picture lately. Here is the last one from about a week ago:

It's the Diagonal Cross Rib Socks pattern from Ann Budd (out of the book "Favorite Socks"). I'm not loving it so far, honestly, and I can't figure out if I'm just doing it wrong? Or if blocking will help? But the stitches don't seem.. right. They are supposed to be a left leaning rib, and while the pattern staggers to the left, the stitches actually face to the right, so it just looks mehhh.. and as a result I'm not super excited to knit them. I don't think there's a strong chance I'll get the pair done this month, but that's okay.
That being said, I am finally using some Knit Picks sock yarn I ordered way back in 2008 and it's sooooo cushy and nice (thanks Merino!), but also very durable feeling. I've got this same yarn in 3-4 other colorways so I think I'm glad I like it! LOL

I also realized that I never shared a picture of the last pair of socks I finished. I shared a WIP pic a few months ago, but I hand over-dyed the yarn and then improvised a cute simple pattern, for my friend Janice's birthday (which is this weekend!). I really loved the end result, and I hope she does too.

When finished I had about 8 yards left, but between this and the pair of socks I made for Chantelle last year (see blog post here), I used up the rest of my JL Vinca stash. I actually had four more skeins of this (hello, hoarding!), but traded it for some cotton yarn that I'll actually use.