Knitting: Bowties are Cool socks.

My October socks are finished! Well...my October socks that I technically started in June. :) As I've mentioned before, I started these months ago. But since I knitted about 1/3 of the first sock and all of the second sock this month, I'm calling these my October socks.

These socks are a subtle tribute to the Eleventh Doctor and his fascination with bowties (see how the little stitches resemble bowties up close?). I used this pattern and followed it exactly except that I didn't do as many repeats on the leg section as the pattern said, but I'm thinking that was a typo, anyway. The yarn is KnitPicks Stroll Tonal in the gypsy colorway. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this yarn. The yarn itself seems fine quality-wise (though I haven't really worn the socks long enough to know that), but I've bought three skeins so far and I've been a little disappointed with the colors in all of them. The colors just aren't as pretty as they look on the website, and there are strange shades of color that pool in a way that I'm not crazy about. From a distance they look fine, but up close...eh. It's not as bad with these as it was with my last pair, but you can still see those rings of darker color spiraling around the foot and leg. Maybe I'm just being picky (or knitpicky, ha). I love KnitPicks and have always been pleased with the yarn I've bought from them, but I do wish the Stroll Tonals were a bit more subtle.

Anyway, I'm happy with these. They'll definitely get a lot of use around Christmas time. :) And I think I'm finally out of my sock-knitting slump!

I'm participating in Liesl's Monthly Sock Challenge, and I'm also using these socks in the "Tender Tootsies" category of the Fall Essentials Sew-Along.

{Ravelry project page}