So I clicked the button and voila!

I signed up for Lolly's Socktoberfest. I don't know why, actually; perhaps it's because I didn't have any set projects for the near future? This knitalong, it's huuuge, along the same lines of the Knitting Olympics. It's like being in an elevator packed well beyond capacity, but the ride may be a thrill. Or I may end up squashed and deflated.

Lolly's posed some questions:

◊ When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? I started knitting socks last year, in late May or early June. I learned from an Interweave Knits project.

◊ What was your first pair? How have they held up over time? I made a pair of baby socks with wee cables running up the leg and gave them to our friends' baby daughter, who was about 6 months at the time. They fit. I imagine they must have held up.

◊ What would you have done differently? Nothing. It was a learning experience. I found I didn't like having to kitchener the toe box closed. It's rather fiddly, and I'm very clumsy with sharp (or sharpish) objects! Anyway, I'm all about toe-up, short-row heel, sewn bind-off.

◊ What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? I loved the Lorna's Lace's Sheperd Sport (colorway Somerset) of those first (and second, and third) pair of socks. I wasn't particularly in love with the Lane Borgosesia/Baruffa Aerobic I used for my first pair of adult socks, but the subtle heathering was beautiful. Zitron's Trekking XXL was soft and so elegantly variegated. I'd knit with Lorna's Laces and Zitron yarns again, but I want to try the others, naturally.

◊ Do you like to crochet your socks? Or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? Mm. I knit, period. Clover bamboo double-points all the way, baby. However, I'd like to have a set of Holz & Stein US1s and US2s in both ebony and rosewood. One day.

◊ Which kind of heel do you prefer? Short-row. Both the standard and yarn-over variations.

◊ How many pairs have you made? Heh. Five. The trio of baby socks which was an Interweave Knits pattern; my self-designed toe-ups, Mirabella, combining lace and cables; and BF's monstrous toe-up socks with the bit of ribbing in the arch area.

I set a goal of 3 pairs, using 3 entirely new (to me) yarns. While I doubt I'll finish all three within a month, I should have, at the very least, one of each.

One pair will be in Koigu: wildly variegated berry colors tamed by an elegant mulberry shade. Now, for Fair Isle, or uneven striping with a bit of purled diamond texture?

Another, in pink yarn with some cashmere content for luxury. I already have a pattern for this: argyle-ish. On to swatching!

Finally, some Fleece Artist Basic Sock in Cosmic Dawn, described as "Black with magenta, tourquoise [sic] and gold", with a bit of grey. That turquoise is unreal, isn't it? Gifted by Mia last year and appropriated by the BF. I'm thinking very simple cables, maybe a 2- or 4-stitch variation with ribbing in between, because I want the striking colors to play out. And, BF likes them plain and simple, or low-profile. I'm quite shocked, actually, that he's willing to wear pink. I owe it all to you, Mia!