I promised in my last post to provide proof that I do, in fact, finish projects. I’ve finished four so far this year, but have been bad about taking pictures of my completed objects, so I’ll work on getting some nice shots of the rest to share with you posthaste.

In the meantime, here are the most recent pair of socks, as modeled by their intended recipient:

The pattern is Nornir, designed specifically for Sock Madness 5 by Caoua Coffee. It’s named after the Norse spirits who weave the threads of life.

I bought this Shibui yarn several years back in a destash by Isela (the Purling Sprite) specifically so I could knit socks for Rudi. When I read that this stitch pattern was specifically good at breaking up pooling, I decided this yarn might be the right match. After checking with Rudi that he liked the design of the sock, I was off.

I was a bit worried at the beginning, because the pooling at the top ribbing of the sock is atrocious in an ugly 1970s kind of way. (You can see a little of that in the photo above.) But as I left the ribbing behind, the yarn settled into a nice mixture and stayed that way until I got to the gusset decreases. Again, I was unhappy with the way the yarn behaved, but Rudi assured me that he found it interesting and didn’t mind it. I don’t know if he would have said that even if I hadn’t been knee deep in competitive knitting at that point, but I prefer to think that he just has a more open approach to color than I do.

The heels and toes are knit in Koigu, in a tone that matches the burgundy in the Shibui pretty well. I’m happy with the way they came out, and Rudi seems to be, too.

Plus, I finished knitting them early enough to advance into the third round of Sock Madness, which will be my best year yet.