I know, I'm naughty.

I have so many WIPs.. but just couldn't resist casting on another sock!

This is Sundara merino sock in Bloodstone. (Kraftie, you are the only person other than me who has some of this colorway on Ravelry. Great minds think alike!) I knit it with my new 6" US size 1.5 (2.5mm) steel dpns, which I picked up in Scottsdale. They're not always easy to find so I snapped them up. I love them for sock knitting — I knit the Kaffe Fasset ones with these as well. I get a tighter gauge than I do with the #2s I'd been using for Sundara yarn, so hopefully the socks will wear better.

Basic recipe here: Tubular cast-on (I used Ysolda's tubular cast on for 2x2 rib) 64 stitches. Work 2x2 rib for 15 rows. Knit one row. Work 5x3 rib (5 k, 3 p) for 50 rows (I don't like a super tall sock). Then K 37, do 3x5 rib over 27 for 7 rows (this adds some rows of stockinette above the heel). Then do a short-row heel over 35 stitches down to 11 stitches; I used Cat Bordhi's method for concealing wraps when they are picked up.

I also did a trick I learned in the first issue of INKnitter magazine — after picking up a stitch and its wraps, I then wrap the next stitch on the needle (a second time) before I turn. This makes for a beautiful heel with no holes. I didn't do this trick on the Kaffe Fasset socks and it has holes. You probably can't see the difference here, but just in case, I'm pasting in photos:



Then I just knitted the foot — K 37, do 3x5 rib over 27 — for 45 rows, knit three rows of stockinette, and did a Round Toe, as they fit me well and don't require grafting. I hate grafting :-)

And now I have one Bloodstone sock and one of the Maizey Bittersweet socks done. As soon as I find the other ball of Maizey I'll finish that pair...

P.S. The mittens have been blocked, but the problem was overtwisting the colors between the rows, so it made a lumpy raised line that wouldn't "block out". However I don't think they will be noticed much in regular wear because it's not on the inside!