WIP Wednesday - Chocolate is Back!

I'm finally done with all the Christmas knitting (don't be so impressed - the presents were all handed out last Saturday, I HAD to finish!) and I'm now back at knitting the Red Chocolate.

I finished the second sleeve and am now knitting the very last piece - the left side/front. I even remembered to replicate the error... pardon me, design feature... of the right side, and twisted one cable the wrong way... only to then promptly do the same with the other cable as well! I did consider ripping it back, but fortunately that error is on the wrong side, so you only see the back of the cable, and from that side I honestly can't tell the difference. So it's been left 'as is' :)
I was very pleased to realize I still remember the cable pattern off by heart, so the left side is going MUCH faster than the right did... not to mention that I don't have to measure all the time, but can just count ridges or cables instead to make sure it'll end up being the same size as the right side :)

I hope to finish the knitting by the end of the year - that should be feasible as long as I don't get too side-tracked... but I'm good at getting side-tracked ;) Then I can hopefully seam it up in January, and pass it on to my friend while it's still cold enough to use it!

But speaking of getting side-tracked... I've had an urge to knit fancy socks for ages. Not entirely sure why, as I don't really consider myself a sock person, but they keep popping up on podcasts, on blogs etc, and the idea of knitting fancy socks just really appealed to me... if only then because it seems like something accomplished knitters do, so if I wanted to consider myself accomplished, I should give it a go ;) I'd found a pattern I really liked (Bilberry, from The Knitter, #56) and yesterday I bit the bullet and cast on! :)
2 hours got me about 25 rows into the first sock. It was supposed to be the Turkish cast on, but I couldn't really make sense of it (didn't try too hard either, I must admit), so I used the Magic Cast On instead. I'm knitting a size M, but I do have a feeling it's going to be a tiny bit too big, so I've just decreased one in both sides and might adjust accordingly for the leg.... or I'll increase one in both sides in another 15 rows when I realize it's not going to be too big after all ;)

The pattern isn't as difficult as I'd originally thought. I love the faux cables on either side, and after just one repeat I've been able to memorize it and read the knitting to see where I'm at :) The yarn is from Candy Skein and is just as awesome to work with as always.