March Socks - Bare Naked Lacy Socks

I am actually a little sad that my March socks are finished. I loved knitting these. It took me a while to decide on which pattern to use. The few that I had my heart set on required a contrasting yarn and I didn't have anything that would work well together (other than a few things that I have earmarked for other projects). So it was back to the drawing board or rather my iPad library for that one. As for the yarn that was easy in the end and I actually picked that out first.

Since I am giving away a skein of Elf Cup by Orange Jellyfish Dream it seemed only right that I used the first skein so that people can see what it looks like knitted up. The yarn is a superwash merino/nylon blend. It feels lovely and has those beautiful dark flecks through it. The bulk of the yarn is a pale shade of stone and contains a short stripe of teal/blue through out. It makes a sharp contrast and the blue highlights the loveliness of the stone. They work well together and I can't stop staring at my socks now that they are finished.

The pattern itself is called Bare Naked Lacy Socks and is by Nancy Degener. The pattern can be found on ravelry. If you go to the pattern you will notice that I have made some changes. I hate knitting picot edgings although I will do it if I feel it compliments the sock. In this case I decided it didn't really matter and in fact I prefer my sock with the ribbed cuff. I also didn't do the star toe which in hindsight might have made for a better shape. I do like that Kitchener stitch though and I automatically do that one.

I'm not sure that the pattern entirely compliments the yarn. I think it would have been better with a solid or speckled yarn. More for the sake of the yarn itself rather than the pattern. I now think I would have liked to see what it looked like in a basic sock. However, I was determined not to do two basics socks in a row. I think the pooling of the colour would also have went better had I gone for a short row heel.

Despite that it's my favourite sock to date but again it has more to do with the yarn than the pattern. If you fancy having a go at the patter it's actually quite an easy one. The lace pattern is a four round repeat and it isn't particularly complex for lace but it is effective. If you don't want to do the picot edging you can skip that and do 14 rounds of knit 1, purl 1 like me.

Lastly, you can still sign up for the second skein of this yarn. I won't be announcing the winner until the 31st March. You just have to leave a comment on the linked post to let me know that you are interested. Be aware that I filter the comments due to spam so it might not appear straight away.