The Hippo Beast is conquered...

..well, halfway at least. Yep, at SNB last night, I finished the first Pomatomus sock. I had to rip back about 2 inches, when it became clear that the toes were going to be much too long, and then have the frustration of picking the lace pattern back up. But I managed it, and here is the finished result:
Again, click on it for a larger picture. I'm really pleased with how it came out, and it feels really comfy too. So, of course, being rash and impetuous, I started in on the second one, with the plan of reversing the scale pattern. Here's progress so far:

I think I'm about 80% there, and probably should have swatched first ... but I wanted my finished sock! I realised that as well as reading the chart backwards, I'd need to change the "knit 2 together through the back loop" decrease into a "slip slip knit" or something ... but I'm not happy with how it's coming out. The scales and the edges aren't defined enough. Here's a comparison of both socks:
Part of it is the decrease; the other part is the twisted rib. If you look closely at the finished sock, the ridges formed by the "knit through the back loop" lie at an angle, with the right side higher than the left. This emphasises the longer curved edge of each scale, and makes the pattern stand out more. On my reversed version, I really want the left side to stand out, and I'm not quite sure how to do that. So I may very well end up playing around with some scrap yarn and see what I can come up with.

But it's still a very good feeling to have one finished. And in the meantime, I may just begin the Jaywalker with that wonderful Fire on the Mountain sock yarn.