Finished Hanukah knits!

I can't reveal several Christmas knits yet (besides, they're still being worked on) - but I can reveal two finished Hanukah items!

First, the one that has been gifted, my husband's socks. He loves them so much he won't allow a proper photograph so I had to capture the socks hiding on his feet, under his jeans and slippers. I guess that makes them a partial revelation of holiday knitting:

Pattern: plain ol' stockinette, 60 stitch circumference, 2" ribbing on cuff, heel flap, wedge toe, kitchenerned off.
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot, in the color "Yellowstone" (isn't it pretty!)
Needle: Knitpicks Options size "1" (so, 2.5mm or 1.5 by "normal" reckoning)
Thoughts: I love the colors on this yarn! It's so soft, with the wool, mohair, and nylon. Maybe that's why he's barely taken them off his feet since I gave them to him on Friday? The softness made it a delight to work with, and there was definitely no awkward pooling or striping. The colors are gorgeous, browns and deep reds with little bits of gold flashing through.

Secondly - The recipient of the super-secret-sock is now in her car winging her way north for a brief visit en route further north, so I can post her socks now!

Pattern: Red Herring by Knitty
Yarn: Elann's "Sock It to Me" yarn (4-ply), in colors 7139 and 9800, a black and a burgundy red. I used one full ball of the black and only part of the red ball, with one full ball of black left over.
Needles: size 2 for the colorwork, size 1 for the rest.
Thoughts: This is such a fun pattern! (Thanks, Cookie!) The colorwork - which was a new experience for me - was really fun. I think it was made easier by none of the floats being more than 3 stitches long, making it easier to keep tension even. I do think that I probably pulled the floats tighter than necessary. They've evened out some with blocking, and will do so more, I expect, with wearing. You can see the floats here, on the left:

I hope she likes them! But now, back to work and to Christmas knitting! I'll have a few Hanukah gift pictures to show you over the next few days, pretty yarn and intriguing new needles from Knitpicks (oops, did I say what it is?!). Did you know they use paper from Babies R' Us as protective shipping material? They do. I have pictorial proof coming in the next post!