I was so excited to start these socks. I found this yarn with the greatest jewel-toned shades of purple and green - some of my favorite colors - and just knew that it would make for the most beautiful pair of socks I had ever owned! I was wrong.

So… very…wrong.

In my own defense, I have to say that the skeins in their original form were very deceiving. (Really. Just look at the picture.) I first became suspicious that I had been duped when I was winding the skeins into cakes and noticed that there were a number of not so beautiful colors tucked in between the deep green and purple, and those colors seemed to go on forever. In fact, the two colors that compelled me to buy the yarn in the first place did not even make up the majority of the yardage. (Based on my measurements of the stripes in the leg portion of the socks I estimate that they comprise less than 30%.) Then I cast on and started to knit, at which point the yarn became officially ugly. Truth be told, I wouldn’t hate it nearly so much (might actually like it even) if it just didn’t have that muddy off-white color. Oh well. I still love Kroy sock yarn and the faux heel flap pattern, so I know that these socks will be very warm and comfy as they fit my feet perfectly… inside my clunky winter boots where no one will ever see them.

I used a Turkish Cast-on instead of Judy’s Magic Cast-on and started with 20 stitches instead of 16 for a slightly more rounded toe. I made the pair two at a time using Magic Loop on a 47” US size 2 circular needle finishing with the ribbed option for the cuff and Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. The heel stitch pattern is Eye of Partridge.