FO: Mince Pie Mayhem (Finally)

I have an FO!  And it's Friday!  I am more than thrilled that I finally finished a project this month, and it was one of my most challenging in a while.  It took long enough, right?

These are Mince Pie Mayhem from Socktopus.  It's a gorgeous pattern that is so deceptively complicated this is actually my second attempt.  The first is still stuck in a bag up in my stash cabinet, hiding from the shame of defeat.  But not any more!

The tricky thing about these socks is that every four rows you are doing a cable crossing of knits and purls and there's no way to knit them without taking all the stitches off the needles and rearranging them (at least no way that I could find).  And because the stitch pattern pulls in, it is way more than my normal 64 stitch circumference.  But even trickier than the cabling was the heel turn.  Actually, I could not make it work, so after three tries I finally gave up and switched it out for a garter stitch short row and then rapidly decreased down the foot.

But the best thing about these socks is the yarn.  I got this skein of Space Cadet as a Christmas present and I absolutely love it.  The colors mix with the sparkle perfectly to create a beautifully melded pallet that was a real joy to work with.

I just wish the sock had gone a little more smoothly.