2019 definitely was a year of inflated expectations. I began with a roadmap for personal creative goals, a development plan for my day job, as well as a Ravelry project queue packed with deadlines for Christmas. My big plan was to make every single person in my immediate circle (and then some) feel absolutely special during the holidays, and I knew that starting in advance was doing to be the way to do it. There were 5 projects in my Ravelry queue with Christmas deadlines. Nearly all of them made with fingering weight yarn, and every one of them socks. The racing pistol went off January 1st. I finished my first pair of socks for Nick in just over two months. It’s adorable. A lovely and meaningful pair of socks made with yarn bought on our 6th month trip to Solvang. I stashed that away before weaving the ends in, intending to pull that out around the holidays. Still feeling motivated, I got started on my second gift pair, Petty Harbour socks, using Rayna Curtis’s …

I finished this project in 2018, but am still so in love with it that I have to give it the attention it deserves. This was my second go at Campbell’s pattern. I adored it the first time, but was frustrated with the yarn I used. This sock pattern deserved another chance. pattern : Show-off Stranded Socks by Anne Campbell yarn : Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball® Crazy in Zimtschnecke needle : US1 / 2.25mm size : 10” Show-off Stranded Socks is available for free on Ravelry. The slipped stitchwork makes variegated yarn blend well without looking garish. A fantastic choice for skeins that look great as skeins but…not reliably great when knit up. My favorite part of the pattern would have to be the gusset stitches, by far. Campbell offers several options for patterns here, like garter, stockinette or reverse stockinette. I went with the seed stitch, which for its tedium gets a lovely result. Besides, it’s just a gusset. I didn’t mind the alternating K1P1 at all. The yarn for this was much more comfortable to …