Second Sock Same as the First

The second Purple Jitterbug Sock was finished yesterday. yipee!
It is the one on the right in this picture. As you can see the pooling around the heel flipped on this one and the blue is on top, which is what I'd been hoping for on the first sock.
Took me three tries to get this heel flap knit. First I was cruising along and realized 10 rows into it that I'd forgotten to switch to the other end of the ball.
Rip.
On attempt #2 I twisted the yarns together intarsia style for some reason. When I came back around to the main yarn after picking up the gussets I had a massive hole I couldn't close up because of the way the yarn was pulling from the linking.
Rip.
Attempt #3 worked out just fine. The correct ends of the yarn were used, no funny twisting was executed, and the correct number of rows were worked. The foot blasted along after that. All in all it took me 9 days to make these, despite not being on the train for most of that time.

Ahh, Family.
Actually, I did have some extra car knitting time on Thursday and Saturday.
Thursday was a milestone birthday for my mom, so Hubby and I tossed the puppies in the car and trooped down to surprise her. (She would probably tell you she turned 30, which would be really weird as it would make her younger than both me and my older brother, but who am I to question?)
The only people who knew we were coming were us, my brother and his wife, because the gig would have been up if my niece and nephew knew. We were supposed to go Wednesday, but that migraine finally materialized and I didn't want to get left on the side of the road if I hurled in the newish SUV (we got it in March). (In fact, I am currently so full of chemicals because I can't shake the stupid thing that I would probably qualify as a Superfund Site.)
Mom, brother and the kids were out galavanting when we arrived, so we hung with the SIL. When they got home, Samson peeked out the living room door. Mom says first she thought they got another dog, then she realized who that fuzzy face was and what his presence meant. She tripped over him and Baru trying to get to us because they were busy jumping on her.
A grand time was had by all (as you can tell by the size of Baru's tongue in the picture above left).
Well, everyone except Samson. Brother's dog, Bailey, was coming out of heat, so she was driving Samson crazy but wasn't responsive. Poor thing, second time he's had his heart broken. The only time he wasn't by her side was when he dove into the pool. Which would have been ok, but we had to heave-ho him out (the kids were in the pool boosting his butt and Hubby and Aunt K grabbed his shoulders) since he couldn't negotiate the ladder. Of course the first time they dragged him out he did an end run around us all and dove back in. Then we got smart and closed the gate.
In addition to Bailey, a yellow lab, they also have a Shih Tzu puppy named Spike. Cute little teddy bear thing. Kind of squirmy. And Samson and Baru totally didn't know what to make of him. They ended up deciding to ignore him entirely, which is probably for the best.
Hubby and Brother bonded by playing video games and drinking beer, the kids asked me for handknit socks (denied), and the dogs got underfoot.
What more could you ask for in a family gathering?
We came home Saturday so I could have time to recover and do laundry before having to go back to work Monday.
As it is a 3 hour drive, I had plenty of time to work on my sock in the car. I can do plain stockinette stitch in the car since I don't have to look.

Onward!
And I have already worked to the heel on my next pair of socks using Mountain Colors Bearfoot Yarn. It's amazing what you can accomplish when all you do is lay on the couch all day knitting. Hey, maybe these headaches aren't so bad after all....Remember those cotton socks I was thinking of reknitting? The white and lavender ones out of Lana Grossa Yarn? Well, I was wearing them Friday and my 8 year old nephew, who doesn't knit, commented that they looked big on me and asked if I had made a mistake. Sniff! In their defense, it was the end of the day. But, really, when something like that happens isn't it a clear sign a redo is in order? They are drying now (I did manage to do the laundry, so the day wasn't a total waste. Not that a day spent knitting is wasted), but they might meet a violent end soon. I just have to decide if I should just redo the foot or start over from scratch.
Actually what I would probably do it go back to the end of the ribbing and decrease stitches away. I mean, the cast on is fine.
However, my current sock awaits, so I must away.