various updates

I finished one of the grey Wool-Ease socks for my Dad. This was such a fast knit, just 3 evenings to complete!
Here's a close-up so you can see the detail a little better - it's K2,P2 ribbing down the whole leg and top of the foot:
Magic Loop class tonight was a lot of fun. I knit the heel flap, turned the heel and picked up stitches in preparation to begin the first round of the foot:
This technique is so cool! But I'm so glad I'm learning this in a class. I can't imagine trying to teach myself because it's very bizarre the first time you're trying it. It's so nice to have a teacher right there to ask questions and show you exactly what to do. She wrote out really helpful instructions for the exact sock we're working on (since it's a little different from the pattern that was in our class booklet) and one of my classmates lent me the little black stitch markers since I didn't bring any to class. It's kind of nice not knitting by myself for a change!

Here's a close-up of the heel section:
And, I also bought some new sock yarn while I was at yarn-love:
The colors kind of got washed out in this picture. They are a bit brighter; it's a really pretty yarn. It's Cascade Yarns Fixation which is 98.3% cotton and 1.7% elastic. I haven't worked with it before but I have wanted to try it. Since I only have Panda Cotton and Maizy in my stash, I thought it would be fun to try something different during Summer of Socks.

So, I'm off to knit some more tonight! Either cast on the 2nd grey sock or start the gusset decreases on the Magic Loop...