Bright Feet

Hey look, I finished a pair of socks!

Pattern: loosely based on Monkey by Cookie A.
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Twitterpated, one skein
Needles: 40" US 1 (2.25 mm) Addi Sock Rockets (magic loop)
Started/Completed: January 3/January 14

These were cast on while we were still on vacation in Florida and were my travel knitting. The first sock was nearly done by the time we get back, but the second sock took a bit of extra time to do once I started back at work and only had my lunch break to work on them. In any case, I'm happy they're done, as they're going to make a very welcome addition to my sock drawer.

As for the pattern, I started with the no-purl Monkey socks that seem to be my default (other than plain stockinette). I thought I'd try a little something different this time, so after I did the first pattern repeat normally, I shifted where I started in the pattern for the second repeat, starting with stitch 9. I alternated the normal pattern with the shifted pattern, so you can see that there's an effect of wavy lines.

My other modification was to add the reinforcement to the sole near the ball of my foot in an effort to have these last a little longer. I have been dutifully exfoliating the problem spots on my feet, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try this out for some extra protection. I essentially did Eye of Partridge stitch on the sole stitches only for the last two repeats of the foot (right before the toe). It definitely made the sole side of the sock denser and perhaps a little shorter than the same area on the instep, but it doesn't seem to be that noticeable. Time will tell if it's actually an effective strategy.

I was in a bit of a hurry to finish these because I wanted to use the needles for the Through the Loops Mystery Sock, which kicked off yesterday with the first clue for the cuff. I was able to get both cuff done by the evening, so now I'll have to wait until next week for the next clue. The cast on was a bit tedious but very fun looking, so I'm excited to see what comes next.

I'm using my own handspun -- the first time I've knit with yarn that I spun on a spindle, actually -- and I'm reminded yet again what a joy it is to knit with yarn I've spun myself. I really need to make a point to do it more often.