February Socks are finished

I finished these on Tuesday but as they were a gift, couldn't put the photos up until they had been safely received.

I've named these the Rainforest Socks since the colours reminded me of parrots, and those gorgeously coloured rainforest frogs, the bright green ones with orange fronts. There isn't really much orange in the socks so I'm not sure why they should remind me of frogs, but they do.

Anyhow, these are just a plain vanilla sock pattern which is what was requested and I think it was a wise choice. The yarn (Trekking XXL) is quite stripy and wouldn't really have lent itself to a more complicated pattern. The yarn gives the plain sock interest and makes it more exciting to knit.

They apparently fit well so I was pleased. I like to knit socks for other people, somehow they seem a particularly warm, comforting sort of a gift, or so I fondly hope when I send them off. The recipient hasn't had such a great time of late and whilst socks can't fix things, I hope wearing them makes her feel cared for, and that she knows that thoughts for her wellbeing are knitted into every stitch.

The stripiness of these socks suggest that the remaining two balls of Trekking I have in stash, which look likely to stripe in a similar way, will not be suited to the sock patterns I had planned for them; both patterns being very complicated with cables and suchlike, which would be hidden by the yarn patterning.

I cast on the March socks this week, and after reading on the Yarn Harlot's blog about afterthought heels, am very keen to try this on the March socks since they too are just plain vanilla. Since I am familiar with the pattern, it seemed an ideal opportunity to try a new technique. However, the March socks are destined to be a gift, and I am never sure if new techniques ought to be tried out on gifts.