Socktoberfest Continued

I know that this is several days after Lolly posted these questions, but I thought they were interesting and this is the first chance that I have gotten to really answer them, So here goes:
Where have your handknit socks been?
My handknit socks have gone wherever I have gone. I love travelling just about anywhere with a pair of socks. They are easy and portable, so I take them wherever I can.

What is the furtherst they have traveled?
The furthest I have ever traveled with a pair of handknit socks is to Europe. Namely France and Italy. While I was in college I had the rare opportunity of traveling to Florence, Italy to study silk jacquard weaving at Fondazione Arte della Seta Lisio. For those that weave it is like weaving with something like 500+ shafts at 250 threads per inch. At least that's what we figured from the metric. It actually is 100 threads per centimeter. For those of you that don't weave it is like trying to make highly intricate bed sheets out of silk finer than a strand of hair. It was a fascinating experience that is most certainly (at least for me) once in a life time. Back then I was still making socks out of my handspun, which isn't as fine as it is today. I made these lovely socks:


They are made from handpainted BFL roving by The Twisted Sisters (Woolgatherings), which I think have either stopped dyeing yarn or are on a very long vacation. I spun it all up before leaving in mid-August. Then I cast on for the socks while waiting in the airport for the plane to arrive. The stewardesses on the plane were really interested in my sock and it made me happy. They were knit on size 4s, using Clover mini circs, which have recently been discontinued. I knit the second one while traveling around and during down time at the weaving studio. I think I might have even tried them on while we were there, though it was too warm to wear them. It was strictly sandal weather. When I got home I threw them in the wash because I am lazy and because they were a little big. Now I use them when we go Christmas Tree hunting because they are really super warm, far too warm to wear regularly.

In other knitting news: I finished the Travelling socks. All the threads are tucked in and so I should have credit for both Sock-A-Month 2 and for Socktoberfest. I think I have pretty much all my goals met. Though I'll go over them at the end of the month just to check.

I even got some work done on these babies. Look at the wee little skulls peeking out. Isn't it cute? This pattern is adapted from Hello Yarns Skull Hat pattern. I figured out that it is 3 skulls across the front and back (for a total of 6 skulls) to fit around Blair's leg. They are knit on size 3 12" mini circ's by Clover out of Cool Wool. These are horribly late, but I am determined to keep working on them. Maybe he will get to wear them for work someday when I get them done =).
And what does a good sock knitter do when she finishes a pair of socks (Namely my Traveling socks, not the skull socks)? Cast on a new pair. This is out of my yarn Mine! Don't Touch!, they are on size 2 inox needles and they are my first toe up socks. I should have a new skein of it up in a day or two in my etsy shop. This is one of my mini skeins that runs around 80 grams, instead of 100. I want to see how much sock I can make out of them. My theory is this, that Sarah can knit one pair of socks for herself and one pair for her 3 year old out of 100 grams. I weighed the children's socks and they weighed around 28 gram, so doing handy dandy math says that a pair of normal women's socks (around size 7) should be roughly 72 grams. We shall see if this holds true. I am pretty excited by this whole toe up deal. I'm doing a short row toe that I am making up out of my head, because I have done loads of short row heels before. I hope it works!