Hey look, I broke out of my purple/gold color rut:

Through the Loops Mystery Socks 2014

And went with another combo I adore: purple+red!

TTL MKAL

These are the Through the Loops Mystery Socks, a knit-along I joined in January. I made these with The Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet in “French Twist” (the red) and “Dancing Queen” (the purple). As usual, TTL+TPK=total win.

TTL+TPK=happy feet

As usual, Kirsten’s pattern was a joy to knit – always straightforward, always beautiful. I just love the lace and twisted stitches of this pattern, not to mention the striped toes and picot cuff. And of course working with TPK yarn is always a pleasure, too. None of my photographs really captured the depth of color in the red (or in the purple for that matter). (Capturing the color red accurately is my photography holy grail, it seems.)

I shortened the socks by about 20 rounds (basically an entire lace motif). I have narrow heels and narrow feet, and I find that handknit socks tend to slouch on me if I don’t make some accommodations. As it is, these socks are still a wee bit slouchy on me – but I couldn’t go down in needle size, as I was already making them on size 0s. I probably could’ve gone with fewer stitches, but that’s hard to do when the pattern is a mystery.

I love how these turned out, and it’s fun to have some red socks to wear on grey days.

raveled