Progressive sock wrap up

Finished these a couple of weeks ago:

Pattern: July 2010 Colorwork Mock - Progressive Sock Party! by Chrissy Gardiner; available on Ravelry here.

Size: women's medium

Gauge: 8sts/inch, unblocked

Yarn: MC: Handmaiden Casbah Sock, colorway: natural
CC1-String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn Nano, colorway: North Haven
CC2- Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock , colorway: blue
CC3-Seacoast Handpainted Merino Tencel, colorway: Bubble Gum
CC4-ShibuiKnits Sock, colorway: Peony

Needles: US 2/2.75 mm

Details: Fun pattern to knit. 3 heel options: I knit the hybrid heel. Wish I had used a darker pink (CC3), but otherwise happy.

Up next: socks for September. I am thinking I would like to make these (Apollo and Artemis) with this (Casbah Sock in Amethyst):

What do you think?

Progressive Sock Party

I am such a sucker for a KAL! I found another great group on Ravelry: Sock Knitters Anonymous and wouldn't you know it? They do bi-monthly sock KALs. So I joined. Here's my cast on for July/August:

The focus of this group is to challenge yourself. This was a mystery sock, with 1 clue being released every week in July. I am late to the group, but have started anyway. I started last Saturday and as of today, I am about half way through clue 4 0f 4 for sock 1:

This sock is a challenge for me because the last time I attempted stranded socks, I ended up with a beautiful bag, but no socks:

Since that time, I have knit a couple of adult sweaters using stranding techniques, so I have my tension under better control! I have noted a couple of things about my knitting though.
1. I need to hold my MC (cream) in my right hand. The difference was quite obvious. For the first row of flowers in the toe/foot area, I held the MC in my left hand. The cream was drowning the CC color out, so I switched hands and you can really see the difference when you compare the top row of flowers in the same color scheme. I tried to get a close up of the difference, but it is really easier to see in the whole sock above:

2. The second thing I have noted for myself is that perhaps when I work a toe-up sock, especially when doing stranded knitting, I should increase my needle size over the ankle (right after the gusset and heel) to accomodate my wide/tall instep. I don't usually have a problem with top down socks, but toe-up are always snug on me, regardless of the heel/gusset worked. I can get this sock on, but it is tight. It fits my daughter's slender feet much better (and she is excited about that!).

So I continue knitting along, hoping to finish this sock this weekend and cast on#2. It is a fun way to use some leftover hand dyed sock yarn.