FO: Sockpal Socks

Pattern: stitch pattern from Handpaint Highlight socks in One-Skein Wonders, otherwise fudged together by me
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Toscana, one skein
Needles: 2,5mm bamboo DPNs (actually four bamboo DPNs and one aluminium, because I'm a klutz)

That pictue is truly awful, but it's the best I have of the completed socks.

I had to fudge around with these quite a bit. I'd knit with Jitterbug once before, and didn't have any problems with yardage. However, I'd heard a lot of people say there wasn't quite enough for a proper pair, and my Sockpal had size 10 feet. To solve my problem, I did a provisional cast-on, knit the heel and down to the toe, and picked up for the leg. Turns out that I needn't worry, really. The foot on these babies is a bit over ten inches long, and when folded in half at the heel the leg pretty much matches. The scraps on the table are all the yarn I had left.

Now, the smart among you might notice that this is a pattern with slipped stitches. Slipped stitches for elongated vees, especially when they're slipped over two rounds. Anyone seeing the problem here? Why yes, the vees run in opposite directions on the foot and on the leg. I'm calling it a design element.

Now, the yarn. I'm terribly fond of Jitterbug, mostly because it's the only "fancier" sock yarn I have access to. When I bought the Toscana, I thought it was a nice, earthy green-brown with a few splashes of colour. Yeah, well, no. I still rather like it, and hope the recipient does too. (And doesn't mind the minuscule amount of purple the yarn has. I swear I didn't notice!)

I've actually knit this sock three times. I ended up ripping the first foot I had completed, because my gauge was way too tight and the sock had a strange pointy toe. I also had to knit enough bits of the leg over and over again to make up a whole one. I'm still not sure if I got it entirely right. I hope the socks aren't too narrow and too long like I'm afraid they are.

Also, as I was a twit I didn't remember to look up a good bind-off. I did a super-loose suspended bind-off with larger needles, and it seems to have worked.

(Random detail: the knits on the ribbing are twisted. I like the way it looks, and when stretched, it sometimes looks sort of like p2-k1-p1-k1 ribbing instead of the k2-p2 it actually is.)