What I did this weekend.

I seem to have contracted the plague somewhere on my travels, so I actually spent most of my weekend lying on the couch, sniffling and coughing and generally feeling sorry for myself. But I did get quite a bit of knitting done.

This was the product of about three and a half movies (Sabrina, Atonement, O Brother Where Art Thou and The Savages). It's a toe-up sock in Artyarns Supermerino, color 157 (chocolate and teal), on US 2.5 (3 mm) Brittany DPNs. Just a 3x1 rib. I used a toe-up heel flap for the first time on these, and I'm not sure how I like it. I'll have to see how it wears before I make my final judgment. I like the way it fits so far, but I hate the way the gusset messes up my nice pooling that I had going on. (Normally, that would drive me nuts, but in this instance, I really like it.) This is very nearly one whole skein of this stuff, and it's squooshy and wonderful and I can tell these are going to be very woolly socks. Because I need woolly socks in May.

The other sock that I should have been working on (but didn't) was my dad's Father's Day socks. I figured I was making such good time on them, I could take a break.

I started these Sunday before I left for the airport. I knitted the cuff and leg on US 1.5 DPNs, and then switched to my good ol' trusty US 1 Hiyas for the transition into the heel and foot. I think they will wear a lot better if the heel and foot are knitted at a slightly tighter gauge.'

The pattern is the Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. I have four skeins of Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Ultra (85% wool, 15% nylon) in charcoal heather. I really like this pattern. If you hate ribbing, this pattern is not for you. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it's similar to a traveling rib, 2x2, that alternates around the leg. Great if you don't want to be tied to the pattern, not great if you're the type whose teeth itch when you knit ribbing. For me, the pattern changes from a k2, p2 to a p2, k2 just often enough to keep me entertained. But we've already determined that I am easily amused.

Because I apparently have little to no self-control, I may have cast on another Gentleman's Fancy sock, except in way prettier colors, on smaller needles and with fewer stitches. (Why can't I wait for Summer of Socks? Because then I would have nothing to knit NOW.)

In other news, I went to the optometrist and she confirmed what I have suspected now for some time: I am getting progressively more blind. So I got a new glasses prescription and a new contact prescription and I am ready and rarin' to go. Whatever that means.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hork up some internal organs. At least a lung; maybe a pancreas. That's the exciting thing about being sick — you never know what you're going to cough up!