Magic Mirror

I finally got around to finishing a project that I started quite a while ago.  I belong to the group "Sock Knitter Anonymous" on ravelry.com and took up the "Sockdown September '13" challenge.  I don't know what made me think I could possibly do this with all my schoolwork and other obligations.  I put the project on hold and didn't pick it up again until the fall of 2014.

The parameters were to use one of Jennie Cartmel's patterns in a tropical colored theme.  I was anxious to try something new, since I had never seen any of Jennie Cartmel's designs.  I chose her Magic Mirror Socks, a "toe up" construction.  I had only knit one other "toe up" pair of socks and was looking to hone my skills and get a change of routine.  The pattern offered easy to follow directions with large charts and helpful links.  I used a Size 1 (2.25mm) needle instead of the recommended Size 0 (2.00mm).  The Chroma doesn't give much stretch and I felt that a the 2.00mm needles wouldn't be large enough, even if I make the largest size.

For the yarn, I chose Knit Picks Chroma Fingering weight yarn in the Lollipop colorway.  I instantly fell in love with this colorway and felt it was a perfect match for the tropical theme.  Knit Picks Chroma Fingering is a soft, smooshy, under-spun yarn and one 100g ball will easily make two socks with room to spare.  I was able to get a nice tight fabric, but because the yarn is underspun, you must be very careful as it's not easily unraveled.  Unfortunately I had to do this several times when I got to the heel portion of the sock. I ripped out the heel of the first sock more than I wanted, but I refused to give up.  After trying many different methods, I reverted back to the instructions of the pattern.  The cuff was ten rows of ribbing, finishing with Jeny's "Super Stretchy Bind Off" which you can easily find on you tube.

I would love to do this pattern again with a completely different yarn to see what result I get.