Emerald City - Sock One

Even though my Woolgirl Oz - Emerald City kit arrived nearly two weeks ago there are apparently still some people waiting on theirs even within the US. That hasn't kept me from working on my socks, of course, but it means I'll leave the photos behind the spoiler links just so I don't ruin it for someone else. (ETA: spoiler safety removed 5-Nov-2009)

So here's a little detail shot of the toe of the first sock:

This is the first thing I've ever knit on needles this small (US1 aka 2.25mm) and although it's been slow, it wasn't as bad as I expected it might be. Of course, after the first night without much progress I think I had convinced myself it would take me at least 3 months to knit these so finishing one in just a couple of weeks was a pleasant surprise!

Last night I finally finished the toe decreases and wove in the ends to get this:

Now I like the pattern and it fits me really well (I went with the middle size with a cast on of 70 stitches), but I have to say that I'm not sure it really pops with the yarn. Even though the yarn is essentially semisolid it just doesn't show the pattern very well, at least in my case. But the fabric at this gauge is really nice and the yarn is twisty and feels like it will be comfortably soft when washed and the twisted ribbing really pops, so I'm still happy with it overall.

I did cast on for the second sock as soon as I finished the first one, but I think I need to switch back to more dedicated work on my classy sweater soon. We got a bit of Indian Summer weather, but I'm still hoping to be able to finish it before Thanksgiving. It's about time to get out my gorgeous new swift and put it to work winding the last skein of my In Vino Veritas and hope that it's enough yarn to finish the sweater. It looks like it should be, but I don't have much experience with sweaters just yet, so the fingers are still crossed for now.