How 'Bout a Quickie and a Monkey?

I wanted a quickie.  A quickie pair of socks, that is.  I had finished my BFF socks for July ahead of schedule, was still procrastinating working on Stricken, and my first pair of Monkeys were dragging.  So yes, it was time to cast on a new pair!

I recently got three new sock books thanks to Amazon.com discounts and free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime:
The Joy of Sox by Linda Copp
Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns by Carol Sulcoski
Sock Knitting Master Class by Ann Budd (with a DVD!)

The Joy of Sox has a cute pattern called Quickie Socks that uses - *gasp* - worsted weight yarn!  And - *double gasp* - size 5 needles!  I immediately made an emergency run to Michael's for some worsted weight wool (my yarn stash may be growing, but it's 98% fingering/sock weight).  And because the Solid Socks group on Ravelry was doing a black/white/gray month, I got it in gray to make a pair of socks for my wonderfully appreciative husband.

July 14th - I cast on Quickie Socks after the kids went to bed (around 8 PM).
July 17th - Quickie Socks finished by lunchtime.

Holy crap!  Two and half days for a pair of socks!  Granted, they are thick, heavy socks, but Chris will thank me when he's shoveling snow this winter.  At least he'll have toasty warm feet!

Quickie Socks 

Patons Classic Wool in Dark Gray Mix

Is it me, or is the pattern reminiscent of the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

With those done and hours of swimming class with the kids, I had no choice but to put in some serious work on my Monkey socks.  Lo and behold, when you actually work on a project, it progresses.  Imagine that!  And when you work on it enough, you may even finish it!  Woahhhh.  Dude.

Started in April, but finished in July, here are my Monkeys by the pool!  (Wool socks with sandals in the background and wet pool cement makes for an interesting photo, does it not?)

Monkey socks - by Cookie A.

Grant Creek Yarn - Leaves colorway

So let's recap:

BFF - done.
Quickie Socks - done.
Monkeys - done.

What to do?  What to do?  I know what you're thinking, and yes, I was itching to cast on another new pair.  However, in a burst of unprecedented self-restraint, I decided to suck it up, dust of my Stricken socks, and sally forth.

More on that later....