Fall Knits

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but something makes me want to pick up the knitting needles I abandoned the previous January or February.  Hubby and I are headed back east in a couple of weeks, so -- after many hours of searching on Ravelry -- I'm trying to decide which of these patterns I want to work on during the numbers of hours we'll be stuck on a plane and in a car.

First up: European Mezza Socks by Sara Morris

I absolutely adore this colorway!  I ordered some beautiful Peruvian Highland Wool yarn from knitpicks.com in the just about the same colors.  The number of colors in this line is AMAZING!  Even if you're not in the market for yarn right now, go check it out anyways!

I'm hoping these socks will go together fairly quickly --  they're cuff-down socks and the pattern seems to use mostly knit stitches.  I've never tried "Fair Isle" knitting (alternately knitting with two or more colors/strands at the same time, without breaking the yarn), but I've been watching a lot of youtube videos and checking out some blogs, and I'm hoping that it will be a fairly easy technique to pick up.

Next up: Garden Gate Socks by Emily Johnson

I think these socks are super cute (although, I'm not sure that my version will be knee-highs).  What I think I love just as much as these socks, though, is that Emily's ravelry name is Emily Starr, as in my ultimate, all time favorite Lucy Maud Montgomery character, of "white night" fame.  I can't tell you home many hundreds of times I've read these books as a kid ... and now I have a sudden yearning to go home and read them again!  Perhaps this sock pattern and I are meant to be "kindred spirits?"

I do have to admit, I have some reservations about this one.  The pattern calls for toe-up knitting and a split heel, both of which I've never done before.  I get super frustrated very quickly with knitting, so we'll have to see how these go.  I did start the toes last night with some heather-grey bamboo yarn, and they look OK, so maybe there's hope after all.

Choice #3 is a tie between: Tea and Scandal Socks by verybusymonkey (in yellow) and River Rapids Sock by Sock bug (in blue).  I'm not quite sure which pattern will win out, but I like the name of the first.

Are there any other summer sock knitters out there?  What's on your needles right now?