Mash-Up Magic Toe-Up Socks (Recipe)

My first socks of summer are done, blocked, and photographed!

Too bad they don't count towards my Summer of Socks 2008 participation! I do have two other legitimate SoS08 pairs on the needles right now. Sadly, I cast the ones pictured on on Father's Day, as I needed an in-process demonstration sock for the magic loop class I taught.

I've dubbed them the Mash-Up Magic Toe-Up Socks (MUMTU Socks or MUMTUS), and I've posted the condensed version of the pattern on Ravelry. Ravelers can view the project page here. Anyone can download the PDF by clicking here.

(ETA) You can also work through the pattern using my in-depth workshop/pictorial here on Aesthetic Entanglementz.

If you're not on Ravelry, don't despair—I haven't forgotten you! I've just run out of time to complete the conversions needed to post the pattern here before I leave for my camping trip in the morning. I am working on the pictorial for a workshop version of the pattern that will debut on Aesthetic Entanglementz shortly after I return from vacation later this week. (Another pair of socks that won't count towards my Summer of Socks participation since I'll be making them kid-sized. Alas—C just couldn't handle seeing another pair that wasn't for her!)

Aside from the fact that this pattern's customizable for any size, yarn weight, or gauge, what makes it special is that it features a pretty gusset and heel-flap (rather than a short-row heel) worked in the toe-up, magic loop construction.

My favorite! If I never saw another sock design, I could happily make these forever!

Here are my notes on the socks as pictured:

Pattern: Mash-Up Magic Toe-Up Socks (Recipe compiled by me). Download PDF.
Materials: Zitron Trekking Pro Natura, 1 skein, colorway 1602
Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm
Started: June 15, 2008
Completed: June 27, 2008

Specs as pictured:

• Magic Loop
• Toe-Up
• 2 at once
• 2x2 ribbing on leg
• Gusset
• Eye of Partridge Heel Flap
• Reinforced toes (using laceweight Russian wool from my stash)
• Primary Stitch Count: 72

Love the pattern. Love the fit. Even might be persuaded to say I love the feel of the yarn. But I strongly dislike the look of the yarn. So much so that I lovingly refer to this pair as my "Anti Pro Natura Socks."

I really wish Zitron—and other yarn manufacturers, in general—would state on the ball band whether there’s a clear repeat within the yarn or not. They don't really have to include a picture of what exactly the pattern looks like, but some indication would be nice! You know, like: Repeating pattern, 3 yards. Aside from being courteous, it would make for happier customers, I think. In the case of the Pro Natura, I couldn’t discern a clear repeat when I was dividing the skein and winding the balls. However, about 4 inches into the socks, it became readily apparent that there is, in fact, a repeat … and that I hadn’t gotten the socks aligned. (In fact, I was only off by a slight margin, but that was nothing more than luck.) Grrrr.

Besides the repeat issue, I really just dislike how the colorway worked up. It's too bad because I thought the yarn was absolutely gorgeous in the skein. I liked it so much that I almost bought 2 skeins! But when I look at it worked up, I think it's bleghchy. I’m just not a fan of the areas of white pooling or of the way the contrast works. This is the kind of colorway and striping that makes me cranky, in general, because it rarely looks good knit up and just indicates to me that the yarn manufacturer wasn’t working with enough sensitivity to finish project.

So I ended up hating these socks the entire time I worked on them–not because of the pattern or concerns over fit or amount of yarn but, simply, because I don’t like the way the yarn looks. Some have asked why I continued knitting them if I dislike them so much—and why, on earth, I would have knit the cuff so long? Well, there's the obvious fact that these were being knit as a demonstration sock for the class. In addition to that, I decided they'll be good for wearing under boots (I'm wear boots almost every day during the cold months). That means nobody’s going to be looking at them. It also means they need to be long enough to peek over the boot top so the edge doesn't chafe my leg. Purely practical.