The second sock went much easier than the first, and now I have a pair. You'll notice that I didn't bother with trying to make the stripe colors line up exactly the same. I wasn't sure that I would have enough yarn to do that, and I really don't mind that they are fraternal rather than identical.
To reinforce lessons learned, I immediately cast on another pair. This pair is also knit from a Regia yarn, but a different fiber blend -- Regia Silk. It's a 55% wool/25% polyamid/20% silk combination. I've used it before in its 6-ply incarnation (now sadly discontinued) for long-wearing hand knit socks for the mister, but this is the first time using the lighter weight 4 ply. And what was today's lesson? Despite being the same 4 ply weight as the previous socks -- this blend needs to be knit at a slightly tighter tension -- probably due to the inelasticity of the silk. Still, they are OK fit-wise, and will happily join their friends in the sock drawer.
I have even started a third pair, but I think these won't be so quickly finished. I think I will do a bunch of socks -- just the machine knitting, not the seaming or hand knit ribbing -- and throw them in a bag for finishing up later. They are an easy "front of the TV/travelling/etc. project once the machine work is done and it would be good to have some quick to finish projects on hand. At any rate, that's the plan!
