late summer socks

Thanks to a short road trip today to a library book sale I finished the gusset increases, ripped back to the correct number of gusset increases (while in a moving vehicle), turned the heel, worked the heel flap, and the cuff (with some short rows). And and 9pm I finished.

It would've gone better if I'd remembered the pattern and taken better notes. When I went to work the cuff short rows I discovered I was incredibly vague in my notes:

"redo ribbing--add short rows for heel length"

Hah. That made it easy.

They came out how I envisioned. And I'm very happy to finally have them finished.

This morning I pulled out my second sock and was very confused. I think I'd been mentally knitting it - you know that feeling when you're sure you've made more progress than actually exists? Then I looked at my notes and remembered the truth: I'd ripped out quite a bit of the foot because my gauge was loose and it would never have fit properly.

I meant to post about this setback here, but I was ripping and reknitting so many other projects these past few weeks that I wrote about one of those experiences instead: Learning from Mistakes (with a few extra stitches). It's nice that I was relaxed while knitting, but when working socks one at a time instead of two at a time, I'm more likely to have these little discrepancies creep in, especially with knitting tension.

Thanks to a site visit and lots of traffic on the highway (I wasn't driving!), I managed to knit three inches of foot today and am very close to starting the gusset increases. This is why I keep a sock in my bag - productive waiting knitting is very satisfying. When there's unexpected waiting like traffic jams, those pockets of time with few distractions mean real progress is possible.

The real question now: do we think I will finish this pair before Labor Day? I'm cautiously optimistic, but you'll note I'm not committing to a year.

This sock feels speedy because I picked it back up after over a year when I was nearly at the heel turn. I’ll bind off and hopefully begin the second tonight. Will I finish by the end of the month?

update, 10pm: second toe is complete! Now to knit the foot.