First Socks of the Summer

I finished my Joy of Charlene Socks this afternoon. Yipee!
They are my first socks for the Summer of Socks 08 and I when onto Ravelry straight away to log them in so I would be eligible for the first bi-weekly raffle. Considering how many people are playing, and how many of them finished multiple socks in this two week period, I doubt I'll win. Oh well, I'm not doing it for the prizes.
Although I do wonder how those people knit so darn fast. Usually it takes me about two weeks to make a pair of socks. I had thought I'd move along faster what with being on the train and reclaiming that knitting time from the driving commute. Apparently that is not the case. Although I think all the fiddling I did figuring out the pattern held me back on these. I bet if I was doing a pair of plain old stockinette stitch socks, like I usually do, I'd have finished them much faster. Still, I think I'll dig my Alchemy Girlfriend Socks out of exile now. They are all cabled and complicated so I'm not expecting them to go quickly.
But back to the Joy of Charlene Socks. I did work a short row toe for sock number 2 in order to be consistent. The fit of sock 2 is slightly different than sock 1, so I didn't have to work that extra round after finishing the toe as I did on the first sock. Also, instead of closing it with the kitchener stitch I used the method Charlene suggested in an email, which seemed like a modified 3-needle bind off. She said it is from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts's Simple Socks Plain and Fancy. It makes a little ridge along the toes, which is kind of cute. (You can see it on the sock on the right.) We'll see how it feels in a shoe and I reserve the right to yank it out and kitchener it shut instead.
The socks felt all nice and squishy when I was running around in them right after I finished them. They are also full of dog hair now, despite the fact that we cleaned for the party yesterday. It's a never ending battle.
There is quite a bit of yarn left over, although I don't think enough for a full pair. I'm going to have to weight it and compare it to the left over blue Jitterbug to try and assess what I have. I might end up mixing it in with leftover Jitterbug to make obnoxious socks. I seem to be achieving the same gauge with them.
Oh, that's right, I didn't show you my new stash. But at this point it will have to wait for another day.