Weekend FOs and project planning

I finished two items at the weekend so feel very accomplished even if my husband did accuse me of being "obsessive" as I furiously knit on my Monkey socks insisting that they needed to be finished by Sunday night. I'm glad I did insist though, I'm so happy that they are done and love the colours and the pattern so much. I will definitely be knitting them again, probably using one of my skeins of Colinette Jitterbug I'm thinking that October Afternoon Monkeys could look rather lovely.

These are my Monkeys knit using some gorgeous Laughing Yaffle yarn in the Hummingbird colourway, I love them oh so much. They are a little on the snug size so I think if when I knit them again I'll use a 2.75mm needle instead.

I also finished knitting the cardigan for my cousin's baby. It only took a week, I was very impressed as this means I should be able to knit a few more baby garments before the baby comes in September. It's nice to have such a quick knit available to me, a bit of instant gratification if you like. Good stuff. It's also oh so cute! I can't believe how teeny tiny and love it is. I used Sirdar Snuggly yarn as my cousin already has two small children and really what new mum has the time for handwashing anyway? I have a nice pattern which uses sock yarn as well so may make something from my sock yarn stash which is machine washable but also is wool to keep baby warmer than acrylic. It wouldn't be right on the baby's skin anyway so shouldn't be irritating. I wish more people I know would have babies for me to knit for, it's just so much fun!

I promised Mr Northermonkey that when I finished my socks I'd knit another pair for him. Knitting for my lovely husband is no mean feat, he is of course completely deserving of hand knit socks. He loves the pair I knit him for Christmas and wears them frequently, he buys me yarn and knitting goodies and he encourages my habit (apart from when he tells me I'm getting obsessive about finishing items, he prefers it when he can see knitting as a relaxing hobby for me) so like I say, he deserves hand knits.

The only form of knitted gift Mr Northernmonkey will accept is hand knit socks, he isn't much of a scarf wearer and the only hat he wants to wear is a Liverpool Football Club one, he certainly doesn't want hand knit jumpers so socks it is. The only problem is my darling, beloved and wonderful husband has size 11 feet. That is A LOT of sock. He only wants plain ones which means I feel like I'm knitting forever. This is why he so far has one pair and no more. It will change though, I have cast on and knit about 30 rounds using yarn he picked whilst we were in Berlin. I will have to get some fancier socks on the needles for a break from stockinette and I am still working on a cardigan for myself so I should be just fine and not too bored or anything. There's no rush to finish them so it's not so bad but we'll see how long these take me. I must make sure I don't make the cuff too long, not just for the sake of not getting bored but obviously I need to get two pairs from his ball. I know I can, his first pair were made from 2 balls of Regia with a little left over and this one ball has the same yardage as those two, it's just that I have to judge where the half way point is. It'll be fine!

I am as yet undecided as to which other socks to cast on. Obviously I have a lot of choice and I do have socks in my ravelry queue and patterns printed and shoved in a folder at home but then the mystery sock on SKA is a cabled sock by Cookie A and I'll admit now I'm tempted to have a go at that, particularly as there's the bonus of it coming out a bit at a time instead of all in one go so I can do it a bit at a time. The problem with that sock though is that they are suggesting 350-500 yards of solid or semi solid yarn and I don't have any solid or semi solid sock yarn. Well I have one skein of semi solid green yarn BUT it's not long enough, it's only about 320 yards I believe so I'd really be pushing it. I clearly need new yarn if I want to knit this sock. I do have my Regia Christmas yarn which is solid with little sparkles but that's for Christmas decorations, not for socks. I'm not sure what to do.

I may have to buy more yarn.

I may have completely messed up my yarn diet by signing up to a sock club anyway, also not solids or semi-solids…I can't resist the bright colours!

I may have a problem.

I can totally buy some semi-solid yarn in a beautiful colour though, my mother in law is giving me birthday money and darling husband said it was totally OK to spend it on yarn. Also work are giving me vouchers so I can use those for the new work trousers I need meaning I can use my own money as yarn money.

See, not a problem at all.