it's October already?

I can't believe it, but autumn is finally rolling into SoCal. Or at least it's trying to. The temperatures are starting to drop (hurray!) and I'm finally into the writing of my final content chapter. As usual, building momentum through writing angst has been a bit of a challenge, but it's starting to feel a little better. I'll spend this weekend at a dissertation bootcamp, writing among fellow dissertators so I hope to make better progress on that, and maybe finish the chapter intro by the end of Sunday.

Knitting-wise, about a week or so ago I finished my first toe socks!


Pattern: Toe Socks by Sandi Rosner (with modified toe construction)
Needle: US2.5 (3.0mm)
Yarn: Four Seasons Grundl Marathon Miro in colorway 607

I changed the toe construction by not casting on extra stitches at the between toe gaps since they ended up looking huge and sloppy. Instead I worked with the existing stitch count and worked the toes that way. They're snug, but considering the need for negative ease in socks, I'm hoping this will work. A fellow toe-sock loving friend saw these on Flickr and fell in love with them, so I'm going to make her her own pair in Knit Picks Felici as part of Socktoberfest. Since she likes bright, happy colors and works at an aquarium, I chose the Aquarium colorway naturally. This time though I'm going to follow the toe construction instructions in Sherbert Toe Socks and see how I like that. I think that picking up and knitting 2sts in the toe gaps rather than casting on four might work better. I'm hoping anyway!

In the meantime, I'm about midway through my mom's Rusted Root top, just before the waist shaping. So far so good! I'm making her the L size.

Well, it's back to Napoleon for me. Toodle-oo!