UFO Days 4 & 5 - Starting the long Weekend

UFO Days 4 & 5 - THE START OF THE LONG WEEKEND! – Friday was day 4 and I didn’t finish a project. The work day was really demanding and long, and I didn’t get home until late, although I had been planning to leave early and get the socks done. I did get a couple of inches done on the foot (1.5 hours) after dinner and a margarita (which didn't speed up knitting), and figured I could finish the socks and maybe the sleeveless top on Saturday. On Day 5 (Saturday) I was successful with the socks. It was the first day of the 3 day weekend, and between doing laundry, running with the dog, obedience lessons at the dog club and putting away tent and sleeping bag from a recent camping trip, the socks got finished with 2 hours of knitting in the morning and another hour on the toe during Prairie Home Companion in the evening. The patterned yarn looks pretty nice in the lace part and then striped in the bottom, heel and toe. The yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, color Flamingo Stripe, and the pattern is the Peaks ‘n’ Valleys in "Knit Socks!" by Betsy McCarthy (yarn and book from River Knits). It is a good pattern for short stripes so they don’t pool. These were knit using 2.25 mm 40” circulars and the magic loop technique. It takes a long time to finish socks for myself since I have such Big Feet! (And I’m a slow knitter) - 4.5 hours total to finish the foot and toe.
I also got a good start on the neckband of the sleeveless top on Saturday (day 5), but didn’t finish it. The yarn is Euroflax Heathers – a wetspun 100% chunky weight linen yarn. I can only knit with it for an hour or two at a time, because the linen is so inflexible and makes my hands ache if I work with it longer. The neckband is a very tight basketweave cable, and I messed up picking up the stitches, and then the buttonholes were wrong, so had to do the front neckband twice (aaaaargh!). Hope to finish it tomorrow.