With October closing in on half way over already, I’m knuckling down on the gift knitting. First up is a pair of birthday socks for my Dad. They are the only man-socks on my list, and his birthday is just before Christmas, so I thought it good to get them out of the way first.

I chose a skein of Lion Brand Sock-Ease.

I’ve knit with it before. It’s not the softest to knit with, but it is hard-wearing, and does soften up a bit with washing. As you can see, it’s a mix of dark olive, grey and brown, with pops of orange, yellow and white. And for some inexplicable reason, the colourway is called “Toffee”. If toffee looked that, I don’t think I’d be eating it.

Regardless, it’s a nice mix of colours. It’s probably a little busy for the pattern I chose: A variation of Walking with Emma.

The yarn is probably more suited to vanilla or plain ribbing, but Mom can whip those up easily for Dad on her sock machine. I wanted to do something a little different for him, so cables it is. You can see them better when the sock is stretched out.

Unfortunately, I’ve reached the age where I have trouble working with dark colours at night. I have a good work lamp, but with the way the livingroom is set-up right now, I can’t use it. I’m close to finishing the lower part of the livingroom, and once we get the furniture moved down there, I’ll be able to have my light again.

In the meantime, Dad’s sock is stuck as daylight only knitting. For the evenings, I’m working on something lighter and brighter!

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I’m making the girls fingerless mitts this year. I had just one ball of Felici in Side Pony left, and I thought it would be perfect for Rowan.

The pattern is my Glinda, and as you can see, the first one is already done. I love little knits like this that just fly off the needles. They make gift-giving so much fun!