Loving the Short Row Heel, Sock Frenzy, and Cool Weather

Ah, fall!  It's the time of cool weather, falling leaves, and Halloween!  I've been kind of slacking through the summer on actually finishing projects for the fall weather, which is probably going to come back to bite me on the butt.  On top of that, some other life situations got in the way of me accomplishing my knitting goals.  I've got a lot of work to do!  There's still Christmas knitting to be done!  I'm never going to finish it all on time!

With two shawls left to be blocked, it's gotten me thinking about other projects I really need to get done for fall.  This past Saturday, for example, it would have been nice to have a shawl to throw over my shoulders just for a little added warmth.  It's starting to get cool in the evenings and sometimes that little extra can help.  Of course, there are several other things I can do in order to get ready for the cool season.  The biggest one is finishing my socks.

I know just one pair of socks isn't going to make a huge difference in the warmth of my feet for the winter weather.  I can only wear one pair of socks for so long before they need to be washed again.  It's going to be even harder with socks that need to be hand washed and laid out to dry.  I've already got one pair of superwash that I made, and I love them.  Now I have the socks I've been struggling to get through.  Second sock syndrome stinks!  However, I can't cast on any more socks until I get these ones off the needles.  I guess that's one advantage of only having one set of needles in the size I need!

As a result, I've been struggling through my Vilai socks.  The second time through the pattern had become a familiar, though slightly annoying slog.  I've kind of gotten bored with it, admittedly.  I wanted to take a break and work on something new and refreshing.  I did that for a while with a shawl that I didn't get very far on, though I adore the pattern.  I just didn't have the time to work on it, much for the same reasons I haven't been able to knit my socks.  It's been hard to carve out time during the day and I kind of wish I had a vanilla sock to throw together pretty easily so all I'd have to do is measure and be done with it.  Then I could easily take it with me for knitting on the go, like at the co-op, appointments or events.  It would be something I could pull out, do a little work on, and toss aside, at least until I got to the heel and toe.  Those would require a bit more focus, but I'd at least be able to whip those up pretty quickly at home.

However, the saving grace for these socks is the short row heel.  It's made the heel turn something so easy and relaxing.  The hardest thing about it is counting, and even that's not much of a challenge.  It gives me a nice break from the whole slog of the pattern, something mostly mindless and zen.  I'm loving the way it's working out.  I love my short row heels!

Now I just need to cruise through the sock to the finish.  I'm sure if I make an effort, it won't be long now.  The foot and toe of the last sock seemed to go together pretty quickly (thankfully, I have small feet!) so I'm expecting this one will seem much the same.

Of course, with this weather we're having, I'm going to have to finish them and quick!  My feet are cold already and it's the first real cold evening of the year!  It's going to be a long, cold winter if I keep procrastinating!