Sock update

I am postponing the Show n Tell this week due to lack of time to take photos of my partners socks .... I got a good start on them this weekend.

Actually I got two good starts ... the first I accidentally put 60 sts on the needles making the ribbing way too wide -- it was even too big for hubby's leg -- so I had to rip out about 3" of sock and start fresh with 52 stitches.

I have just about finished the first color changing pattern - I'm not that happy with it but it will work out -- I've been changing the number of rows as I go and keeping track for reference later.
Its a good thing I am doing both socks at once ... otherwise this would be a real pain to try to remember - haha - not really but I like being able to get both done.

just a couple of things that I have yet to master -
(a) how to balance 4 balls of yarn without getting them tangled
(b) how to remember which sock I'm working on when I set them down to get after the kids.

Actually I think I have figured out (b) ... if I have completed sock 1 then the needles will be opposite each other in the socks ... if I've finished on sock 2 then both needles are facing the same direction -- but now how to make it easier as to which pair I'm working on Red or Blue.

normally I can remember because the breaks are short, but like this weekend I wound up not getting back to for an hour and it took me 10 minutes to figure it out.

but otherwise I like the method, and I don't have to worry about SSS {the single sock syndrome} ... I don't have to worry about different tensions causing one sock to be slightly tighter than the other ... and any pattern change I make I do on BOTH socks right away.
but the best part is that since the stitches finished get pushed onto the cable it means that I can make that first stitch of the needle change tight enough to prevent a hole there.

Now I have to confess -- I really hate starting two socks on circs -- so I cheated and did the first 7 rows on dpns and then transferred it over to the two cables ... it made a nice tight ribbing because I used needles two sizes smaller than my dpns. then when I switched colors for the other half of the ribbing I used that opportunity to transfer it over. it worked out really nice.

I've even taken to weaving in my ends as I go -- and I can see the advantage of wool over acrylic in this matter ... the wool just seems to want to cling to itself so it blends in nicely.