A Bit of Christmas Knitting

I know I haven't posted any new projects lately but I really have been knitting. A lot. I have a deadline in that I want to finish a pair of socks by the end of the weekend so I can get them and another pair in the mail to the intended recipients.

This is my generic ribbed sock. I'm using Kroy Socks FX yarn.

In the interests of time, I decided to discontinue the ribbing on the instep just above the heel.

Just before starting the heel flap, I knit a little more than a centimetre of stocking stitch.

I really like the colours of this marled yarn. This 4-ply Kroy sock yarn is also quite thick and wears well. You can find it at most discount stores.

But the downside of that is that there isn't a lot of yardage - only 166 yd.

I purposely only knit about a 15cm (6") leg as I know these socks will probably only be used indoors on rugs or mats. However, as I was approaching the toe, I realized there wasn't going to be enough yarn to complete the sock. My solution was to finish the toe with another Kroy yarn that would look OK.

Rather than a harsh contrast, I decided to knit a few rounds of the new yarn, then alternate with the other yarn. Hoping it would look like some type of design feature. At this point I was ready to start the decreases for the toe so I just continued with the new yarn.

I could have started alternating colours a bit earlier to make it look like even more of a design feature.

The other thing I did was use a jogless stripe technique so the colour transitions would look smooth. You can see it a little bit but it's not a really obvious 'jog'.

Here's a closeup. There are only 4 rows but at the jog  you are slipping the first stitch of the second row so only 3 rows of stitches show there.

I really don't think most people would even be able to see where the colour changed.

I'm just working the gusset decreases on the second sock. So, a last push and I'll get these out the door and in the mail.

My head is dancing with ideas for upcoming projects, mostly inspired by my knitting sessions from my Irish knitting tour.