So Close, So Far

My mom has expressed concern about me calling them "Damn Doilies."
She's worried Aunt L will find out.
I said Aunt L isn't online. It is very possible my mother-in-law now reads my blog because she is on Facebook and my blog feeds into my Facebook profile. But she hasn't said anything.
You may remember I fell into the habit of calling them that when I was trying to expand the first one to 12 inches.
Really, they've been fairly easy since then.
I guess it just proves that doilies and I don't mix.
Back in 2004 I crocheted a nice pineapple one for myself, with the intention of making two for under the lamps on the living room end tables.
It makes a lovely centerpiece for the coffee table.
Actually, you've seen this pineapple doily before, it was the inspiration for the fancy cuff on the long neglected Peacock Socks.
Anyway.
What you see in the top picture is the process of working the first round of the crochet edging, which also binds off the knit body.
You have to crochet two stitches together right off the knitting needle.
I believe I've complained in the past about how fussy and awkward a process it is, and I thought I'd finally try to prove it.
For reference, I'm using US1 needles and a steel crochet hook!
But that first round is done. Now all I have to do is work the second row, which is far easier, and the Damn Doilies are out of here.

So Far
I have also quietly, and in fits and starts, been working on the Cotton Ribbed socks.
You have probably forgotten about them as I started them a while ago and haven't mentioned them since.
Well, last night I ripped the first sock, which I had only just finished, all the way back to the 18th row.
You might remember I had been agonizing about stitch count for these socks because I didn't want them to be baggy.
I don't know how well you can tell in this photo, but I had decreased away, um, eight stitches from what I had originally cast on.
This left me with a 40 stitch sock.
This did not sound quite right, since I am a grown woman, even if I do have small feet.
But, of course, I just kept knitting.
The entire time I was working the foot I suspected it wouldn't fit nicely, but kept thinking, "Well, I'll have a better idea after a few more rows."
I believe I ended up that small because I ended up decreasing on both sides and wanted to keep the ribbing correct. I probably should have decreased at one point, which would have led to fewer stitches removed.
I finished last night, but didn't kitchener the toe, or even cut the yarn. I put the sock on and sat there for a little while.
Sure enough, it stretched over my foot, but felt like a sausage casing. It just wasn't comfortable. It did loosen up after a couple minutes, but was still pretty unacceptable.
So I decided to go back to the original number of cast on stitches (48) and just work the entire sock that way. Hopefully my plan of using the ribbing to give them stretch and cling will work out.