Here we are in October already and with #Socktober well and truly underway. Autumn is in full, blustery swing here in the UK today and it seems fitting that under my smart work work boots I am wearing my best handknit stripey socks to keep my feet warm.

I do hope you have your Socktober knitting planned out and on the needles but just in case you need a little extra enabling - fear not as I have a little round up of some fun goings on in the knitterly world.

First up we have the #gbsocksawaykal hosted by the lovely Isla, of the even more lovely Brit Yarns fame. Her KAL group on Ravelry is a really fun and chatty place to hang out. Even if you aren't knitting socks (and if not..why not??) there are plenty of great tips, patterns, chat and inspiration to get your sock knitting mojo going.

As well as the KAL, Isla is also running a competition jointly with Joy of the Knitting Goddess. You are challenged to come up with a new Britsock colourway (of up to 3-4 colours) which to you, perfectly sums up Britishness. There are some great entries already and I can't wait to see what is eventually chosen.

If you are all about the KALs still, Sara of Sara's Textured Crafts is hosting one too - with the emphasis firmly on relaxed fun and chatter over on her Ravelry group.

As for my own knitting. I am having a bit of a Finishing Festival. I have several pairs of self striping socks in various stages of completion which, to my shame, have languished for far too long in search of the new, the tempting and the deadline knitting. My boys are clamouring for their completed socks - each of them chose a shade of the West Yorkshire Spinners bird-inspired yarns some time ago.

To forestall the inevitable arguments I initially started working them two at a time - one from each skein. But I soon came to realise that this didn't make for the most portable of projects. This was compounded by my trying to work the heels with separate little balls of yarn (I pre-wound about 5g from each skein before starting) in an attempt to keep my nice even stripes on the front of the sock. Things got into a bit of a tangle and had to be set aside (read - shoved into a corner) until I had time to untangle and rearrange on separate needles. All is now going swimmingly however and I have high hopes of being able to present not 1 but 2 pairs of finished socks for #FOFriday this week.

How about you - do let me know what you are working on and how your Socktober is going.

Tour de Sock FO

Apologies for showing the same project twice in a row but I have been a little monogamous this week. Working on the Tour de Sock project left little time for anything else, but I am pleased to say that having cast on, on 1st June I finished at 10pm (GMT) on 4th June.

And very pleased I was too.

The legs were far longer than I normally knit (approx 8.5") and I begrudged every last row of the ribbing. The Y-heel turn I'm not crazy about and I don't think I would do again but overall they are a very handsome sock and I will wear them with pride.

At the time of writing there are 358 Wye projects in Ravelry with 87 finished. There are many others nearing completion though so it will be fun to cheer them on as they race to the finish.

The next stage starts on June 10th so I have time for a bit of non-sock knitting to give my hands a rest.

To use up some aran weight from stash - StashDash2014 - I am working on another Garter Ripple Squish blanket. We are going to be getting two new kittens tomorrow so in preparation (as well as storing all my yarn in sealable plastic bins) I am making a kitty blanket. Of course they will probably ignore it and make a beeline for my sock yarn blankie in progress, but it's worth a try and it helps me get towards my 5K Stash Dash target.

Sock heaven

Now, heaven knows I have no shortage of socks on my needles at the moment. I have a complicated toe-up design which is currently tying my brain in knots. I have a straightforward sample knit which is quite relaxing, but suffering ever-so-slightly from 'second sock syndrome'. I have a plain pair of grey socks for my father in law which are languishing in the WIP pile - plain, grey, huge - not very appealing -say no more.

And then, into my sock knitting doldrums drops this little beauty:

The very talented Sparkleduck has produced a wonderful rainbow yarn in her fabulous Socka base, which produces two colours per round on a sock. The colourway is Warm Rainbow (in case you were wondering).

I can be a little colour-shy sometimes but this yarn positively sang to me and implored me to take it home and knit it...so I did:

I was dithering about whether to do an afterthought heel so as not to interrupt the stripes but in the end I plumped for my favourite Fish Lips Kiss Heel and I love the way the stripes work over the heel - great fun.

I was also a little worried about potential pooling and did consider a pattern designed to work with highly variegated yarn such as Hermione's Everyday socks but in the end I decided to just go with the flow. With 60st on 2.5mm needles the stripes worked up into a very pleasing sequence that is strangely hypnotic to knit.

I sock down, and 1 to go.