Busy starting and stopping, ugh

I have a few skeins of the much coveted Wollmeise yarn. I was only able to buy these back before it became insanely popular. I was tired of having the yarn just sitting around and looking pretty that I wanted to use it. This is the Emil color. I tried some twisted stitches mixed in with plain stockinette and was not happy with the result. The yarn self striped at the stitch count and gauge that I used. This has been ripped and I'm searching for another pattern to use with this pretty color.

This is Franz. It also wanted to stripe a little and I didn't like the pooling at the heel gusset. I guess that I'll have to stick with a short row heel for these two yarns. I was knitting both of these over 66 stitches around. My gauge was 9 stitches and 13 rows an inch. This sock didn't look too bad under the right light, but it was also too tight getting it on my foot. I've changed the charts and tried it again.

This next sock fits a lot better, but it still pulls in a little. I'm using a lot more stitches that I thought I would need.

This yarn is a basic 4-ply Opal solid. It is slightly thinner than the Wollmeise yarn, but great for showing off a stitch pattern. I love how the diagonal lines grow out from the cables on either side of the foot. I do plan on writing this pattern out. I just need to figure out how to make it for multiple sizes. I wanted something different at the top and settled for a picot edge. I think it caps the top of the sock off nicely.

Details:
Pair #31 in the 52 Pair Plunge II
Pattern: Twist Me by me
Yarn: Opal 4-ply in red (62 gms used)
Needle: size 0 (2mm) Knit Picks Classic Circular
Method: magic loop, toe-up, Turkish cast-on, patterned gusset heel, picot cuff
Start: February 18, 2009
Finish: February 22, 2009

Red is so hard to photograph. I'll have to take better pictures for the written up pattern.

I've started a new sock with the frogged Wollmeise Franz yarn. I think it's working out. The stitch pattern doesn't seem to be fighting the striping too much.

I've also been busy reading too. I'm reading romance books for a competition. I probably can't mention what contest, but it's a yearly thing. I'm reading books for 4 categories and that resulted in 17 books! I got them earlier this month and I'm down to my last 4 books. I have until mid-March to finish them. This is my second year reading and I'm enjoying it. I've gotten books that I wouldn't normally pick and I've found that it's fun reading something different.