12 Jan
Caked the yarn & cast on for the first sock. Doing the L size but with US1.5 and US1 needles to see if that will work since this yarn seems like it will do better with a tighter the gauge.

15 Jan
I broke my needle! My US1 snapped right at the base. Boo! I’ve already ordered a replacement from the Mannings. Hopefully I won’t break anything else.
…
These socks are so stretchy. They were really pulling in on my 9” circs making cabled rows fairly difficult to do. Sadly, I have no DPNs in the right size to switch to so I shall persevere. Also, because they pulled in so much, I was fearful that there would be no way these babies would fit over my foot and heel - but they do! Yay!

19 Jan
First sock is ready for the heel. Cast on for the second one and have it almost to the same point. The beads show up a lot better in person than in pictures. Quite cute.

25 Jan
Finally (after dealing with a bad cold), I have finished both heel flaps. Turning the heel, things somehow ended up wonky compared to the directions. I had to finish with Row 4 (instead of Row 3) and ended up with 22 heel stitches (instead of 21). Both socks ended up this way so I’m going to go with the directions being off instead of knitter error, but either is possible.

29 Jan
Oops. This is why I should not knit when foggy headed from illness: I misread the directions and knit until the foot lacked 2”, not the 3” needed for my size. Instead of ripping back part of an owl repeat, I shall work Rnd 2 of the Toe Transition chart (to keep the side cables in line with the pattern) and then begin the Toe, ending it sooner than the chart directs. I shall have more stitches at the end of the toe, but this should be just fine as these toes seem a bit pointy compared to other socks I’ve made.

30 Jan
And I just figured out that I didn’t stop the last owl repeat at the proper point (but instead completed it) so I have slightly awkward knit row. It’s super minor (on an already improperly done toe) so I shall not rip back. But ugh, I really shouldn’t knit complex things when foggy-headed.

First sock is done!

2 Feb
And the second sock is done! Blocking now!

I will be honest - I didn’t enjoy knitting these all that much but I can’t deny that the finished product is seriously awesome.

Overall Thoughts
I’m torn on this pattern. Personally, I think it is genius. The cables and ribbing and every little thing seems so well thought out. But I have learned I hate doing cables. Not because they are slow and fiddly (which they are) but because the tension it creates on the needle. That tension transmits straight to me and it stresses me out. So I guess I’m not torn: this pattern is brilliant but the style is not something I enjoy knitting. The finished product is pretty awesome though.

As for the yarn, I really hope it holds up well because it’s delightful. Comments on this yarn, though, don’t look favorable. Hopefully the tighter gauge will help because if this wears well I will use it again and again. Soft and lofty, it’s so nice to knit with. Also, the tonality of the colors is beautiful. There are shade of both brown and gray; totally gorgeous.