I Made It

The Alchemy Girlfriend's Cable Socks were completed last night. They are quite warm and cozy.
Each one took most of a skein of yarn, leaving me with a full skein and smidgens of two. (I didn't get a chance to weigh them on the scale, but I intend to, just for grins.)
To recap, these are a heavily modified version of the published pattern. I made them a repeat taller, dropped stitches from the side ribs to make them smaller, changed the back rib into a twist (to make up for the lost balance from changing the ribbing), and worked a Cuban Heel instead of a short row heel.
I think they are lovely and now how to determine if they are too think to wear with shoes, in which case they will be house socks. But I'll have to remember to wear them with my fuzzy slippers to cut down on wear and tear.
Casting On
Of course as soon as all the ends were woven in on those socks I cast on for a new pair.
I can't say that I put much thought into selecting the next yarn out of my stash. I think I had sort of decided quietly in the back of my mind already while I was doing other things.
The main factor was I wanted to do a pair of plain stockinette stitch socks since the last two pairs had been heavily patterned.
Actually, I just remembered, I didn't wait to be totally done the GCS, I cast on the new Jitterbug socks on the train ride home. Right, I had finished knitting the GCS on the morning commute and left the kitchenering for home. So that morning I had already put the purple Jitterbug in my bag. Look at me planning ahead.
The actual color name is Florentina.
You might remember I bought this skein to go along with the leftovers from the blue skein (Fiesta?) I had kicking around. The blue wasn't enough for either a full pair of socks or peds and I was looking to supplement.
I think that all contributed to going with this yarn next. I did consider using the new, ultra bright Mardi Gras skein first, but then I felt bad and stuck with the purple.
It is amazing, although it shouldn't be, how much quicker a pair of plain socks works up.
And I like that Jitterbug smells vaguely of vinegar.

Another Barking Tale
Lest you think I was unfairly picking on Baru the other day for barking at the new air conditioner, which you might consider a perfectly legitimate activity, let me share another inappropriate barking story.
Over the weekend Hubby got the electric hedge trimmer and a shovel and cleared a path through the lower yard down to the river. He has to do this every year or two, it's fairly clear but there are sticker bushes toward the end, and debris on the steps.
Anyway, when I got home pups and I went down to join him. He was on his way back up. Baru stopped cold and starting barking at him—all because Hubby was holding the tools.
So, tell me, isn't my puppy dim?