Opal Purple Sidewinders
I love these socks so much I haven't wanted to wear them. They are hanging on the back of my closet door and every morning I enjoy looking at them.

It's the combination of the two yarns that makes them so special. The lighter parts are knit from Opal Mosaic and the darker parts are deep purple and black Opal Crocodile.

The pattern is from Soxie's Cell Mates, "Fun n' funky socks with matching Cell Phone bags".

I made a few modifications to the pattern.

In anticipation of the coming Michigan winter, I knit my cuff twice as long as the pattern calls for. There is 20 rows of k1p1 ribbing under the vertical stripe cuff so the sock will fit snuggly to my leg.

Then, I made the stripes on the ankle and toe a little thicker than the pattern said because I love the color contrast of the two yarns. Since I was knitting the small, 56 stitch version, there was plenty of Crocodile to do that.

My two color knitting skills are pretty lacking. I couldn't get the pattern's vertical stripes to look nice on the heel. After I frogged the first heel a few times and the yarn was beginning to look a little frizzy, I decided I was going to have horizontal stripes on my heel.

These socks were completed over a month ago. I was waiting for Soxie to get them on her website before I showed them on Seasons of Violet.

Thanks for a great pattern Soxie!! They were fun to knit and they're going to be fun to wear - someday.

Fluted Banisters
Last week I finished the Fluted Banisters, the October/November pattern in the Six Sock Knitalong.

The yarn is Opal Handpainted #11.

Since I have small feet, I used sixty stitches around to get a snug fit.

This pattern went very quick and was fun to knit. I'll use it again when I have randomly variegated yarn like this.

Pumpkin Torte
There is the most delicious recipe for Pumpkin Torte in the recipe section of my sidebar. I look forward to making it every autumn, usually for Thanksgiving.

The torte is 9 x 13 and has too many calories to count, so I don't dare make it more than once or twice a year.

If you've never made it before, you have the perfect excuse to make it twice. You have to try out the recipe before serving it to your Thanksgiving guests, right?