I decided I wanted to knit my Mum socks for her birthday (which was on Friday) a while ago - and started off with Eunny's Bayersche socks. I did like this, but struggled with the combination of lots of small needles and several charts next to each other of different lengths and cabling - also, decided it looked a bit overdone (when I did it - complicated for its own sake almost, perhaps because my gauge got tighter as I found it harder).
So I decided to frog and go for the cablenet socks from Knitty by Ariel Barton - happily knit in the same yarn I am using (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock semi solid from Getknitted) which made life easier. I'm using new Clover bamboo DPNs, 2mm (whatever that is in US sizes) 16cm - a good length, not too long.

I'm very pleased with how it is going! I started with a yarnover type tubular cast-on - perhaps I should have done a twisted rib, but I didn't!

The silvery tube is the Woolworks socks-in-progress holder, a fantastic idea reproduced form 19th century versions. Works really well, enhances the portability of socks on dpns no end!

Talking of Getknitted (as I did a few paragraphs ago) I went to the opening day on Saturday 20th January. This is an on-line shop that has always had monthly open days in the warehouse - now it also has a VAST realworld shop, in Bristol (where, happily, my parents live). I went with my Mum and C's mum, and bought 2 skeins of koigu (in colour P118c lot 644 - shown here rather blurred in a soon-to-be-unravelled sock, I think. Also, one skein of Colinette Jitterbug in Bright Charcoal, which I'd had my eye on on-line. This is an 'easy-care' 100% merino sock yarn, 267m in 100g. Interestingly, it doesn't feel any thicker than Poshyarns wonderful Lucia sock yarn, which is 30% cashmere and 70% merino and is 360m to 100g. It'll be interesting to see how the jitterbug swatches - I might try it on 2.5mm first, though I usually use 2- 2.25mm for socks to make them wear better.