AUGH!

I have finished the foot of the bright colorful socks, and it's very clear that:

A: there isn't enough yarn to complete the toe

B: The skeins are uneven—so I will have a small amount of  yarn left over (even as I have to add yarn!)

I have some mini skeins of sock yarn in various solids—hot pink, orange, and a dark turquoise blue.. I am not sure which color I will end up using. Maybe some stripes of solids (all 3 colors) and some stripes of the polychrome yarn.

I know I can come up with solutions—and I know I have yarn (left over mini skeins of sock yarns) that will work, but its still annoying.

I hate short skeins. I know its partly do to the yarn weight—sock yarn comes in various weight/sizes, and some yarns, like Patons Kroy yarn does come in very short (as measured by the yard) skeins. It is also a bit heavier (thicker) than average sock yarn. But Kroy is a bargain yarn—It might list for $7 a skein, but with coupons and sales, I rarely pay more than half that per skein (a 50g skein). Even a third skein brings the cost of a pair of sock to about $10. Even the huge socks I knit for my S-I-L--(men'

s size 10 wide)  last fall didn't take a FULL 3 skeins. I have enough left over of the third skein to make a water bottle cover--(Which is exactly what I plan to do with it!)

Hand painted sock yarns are often $10 per 50g skein. $20 worth of sock yarn really should be enough—for a tall or wide pair of socks. I concede, this yarn isn't a likely choice for a pair of men's socks, but then not all women have dainty feet (size 6 or 7, B width). This just reminds me why I don't often splurge on fancy expensive socks yarn—I know I didn't buy this, but likely got it in a swap, but it is disappointing all the same. I have to come up with a fix.  

As for the cowl, I ran out of the first 2 skeins at round 23—and 6 inches of knitting. I will have plenty with skeins 3 and 4 to make a nice tall cowl. 9 or 10 or even 11 inches! This kind of pattern isn't knit in straight lines. It starts midpoint in the left leaning diamonds, and row 1 of the right leaning, and ends mid point in a left leaning set. So a single repeat of the pattern creates 1 full set of diamonds, and 2 half sets.

A bit more than dozen rounds from now, I will have a complete set of left leaning diamonds, (and another half set of right leaning.) That will be close to 7/7.5 inches of knitting—I might stop there... But likely not. I'll likely could continue and have another full set of right leaning.. and end with half a set of left leaning. Where ever I end,  I will always have to end with one set of diamonds half (or partially done.

I'll have to see how it goes. I tried the cowl on last night, and wow, is it warm. I think I could wear this alone on a cold day and still be warm.