Less is.... okay?

I did knit last night, while I watched the debut of Reaper, which I liked, though not quite as much as Chuck, on Monday (and they're nearly the same show- 20-something slackers pressed into dangerous duty they neither asked for, nor desired, with goofy friends and Hot Chicks Nearby. Luckily, they're both quite funny and worth watching). Reaper is a bit more Ghostbusters than I was expecting (not that there's anything wrong with Ghostbusters- it's the best one in its row- I was just hoping for Dead Like Me ).

Anyway, last night I started a sock with my most recent handspun yarn. And then I started it again. And again. I wanted to make the subtle color changes pop with a textured design, but none of them worked. I tried Monkey Socks (for some reason, I can't get a link to work- the pattern is available at Knitty), but the yarn needed Size 3 needles, and the Monkey pattern can only be sized down in increments of 16 sts, so it was just too big as written, and too small reduced. I tried cables, but the yarn is pretty dense and at the gauge I needed for socks, it would have been like wearing iron lumps. I tried waffle and the texture just didn't show. So I went to plain stockinette. At first I thought it was a shame not to show off the yarn more, but as I knit, I realized that plain vanilla is a good showcase for yarn whose subtle color variations would disappear in a busier pattern when knit that tightly. I'll have plenty of yarn left over, for maybe fingerless mittens, which can be knit a bit looser, and then I can play with texture. The socks will be dense and comfy, and perfect for those below zero days when no house feels really warm.