Amphibious Monkey Socks

I've finally finished my Monkey socks!



Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Started: February 8, 2008
Completed: March 28, 2008
Materials: Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM), 2 skeins
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm

Of all the socks I've knit to-date, these are some of the most fun. I can honestly say they made me happy every time I picked them up.

In addition to Cookie's great pattern — which I highly recommend — I credit much of my happiness to the amazing Koigu yarn. The colorway is just gorgeous, and it's painted with such subtlety and depth as to keep me always in awe.

These socks have already gotten considerable blogtime here and here, so I won't repeat myself now. Instead, this post marks their completion and my final thoughts.



I knit my Amphibious Monkeys using magic loop, two-at-once, from the top down. I would have preferred to do them toe-up, but at the time I was itching to cast on, I couldn't figure out how to reverse the lace. I admire Cookie's application of the lace and didn't want to have her pattern appear upside-down on my socks. (I have since solved that problem. See my next post for the chart.)

Modification: I replaced Cookie's heel stitch with Eye of Partridge, which provide better cushion and fit and, as I've said, I believe better suits the design. I adore this stitch, so let's see it again:



Only a few yards of the Koigu remain, the rest got eaten up in the knitting. About 3 inches from finishing, I thought for sure I'd run out of yarn — I even started planning ways to handle a shortfall. Anyone with feet bigger than, say, 8-1/2 will want a third skein if they go with Koigu.

I made mine with a little more ease than the pattern intends because I wanted to keep the bumpy texture. That's why I opted for US 2 needles. It created a slouchier version of the sock, and I'm really happy with the results!

Why "Amphibious"? The color. Don't they just look like something that crawls in and out of water?!