I know this will be considered rude....

by a lot of people. It is definitely against exchange etiquette...but my partner has had her package for a month now and still has not posted photos of the socks I made for her, and the HSS2 site has disappeared ---so I'm just going to do it.

I liked them.
here they are...made with Lorna Lace's Shepherd sock yarn in BeeStripe with Gypsy in Raven.




here is a overall view. I used two different patterns, one top-down, one toe up. It changed the way the yarn pooled and how the heel worked up too.




Here's a detail of the heels. I really like both of them although the heels are different. I like them both for different reasons. The top-down had a nice thick back to it, however the toe-up has a thick area under the heel (which would suit my needs)

The toes turned out more pointed than I had hoped, especially on the toe-up, but that was because I forgot to increase my decreas and kept dec'ing everyother row.
The top-down I ended with a three-needle-bind-off which leaves a slight ridge on the inside, but then most socks I know have a slight ridge there. The toe-up used the figure8 cast on and I think I started with too few a loops which also helped to create the pointed toe.

I used the Gypsy to dress up the top so these socks can be used in the springtime too when the weather calls for shorts....or maybe I'm just more adventuresome than most....also it has a great tactal quality that I wanted to incorporate, it feels just like fur against the skin {no animals were hurt}. It also had the added benefit of hiding a slight difference in the height of the socks caused by switched needle sizes on the cuff.

Now I had planned it all out for one sock to be done with a size 4 and the other with a size 2...had the gauge worked out and everything and it should have worked out great...but when my daughter sat on my needle and I had to switch pairs it was just enough to set things off.

Its really too bad that I don't know how my partner feels about these socks--or maybe I do--because they are the most expensive thing I have EVER made, including my crocheted blanket/shawl that took over 10 skeins of yarn (its what taught me about yarn weights).

At $11 per sock (yep, $22 for the pair) I had really hoped to have seen some sort of acknowledgement on her blog if not the group. It hurts but you know what?

I'll live. I'll still make and give gifts. And I will never spend that much EVER again for a stranger. NEVER.