Turn it upside down
Add one pair of bare tootsies
(Excuse the bandaid, I ripped up my toe in yoga somehow. Sticky mats my bum, they should call them shreddy mats.)
What do you get?
One pair of toe-up monkey socks!
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Copperbeech, almost 1 skein
Needles: Knitpicks size 1 DPNs (2.5 mm)
I never have revealed the time it took me to finish a project, mainly because I usually find it embarassing how long it takes. But it occurs to me that it might be useful to keep track of this kind of thing, so I'll swallow my pride and start telling ya. But please keep in mind that I am very fickle and never work on one project exclusively.
Started: May 9, 2007
Finished: May 28, 2007 (I think?)
Pattern: Monkey socks from Knitty, of course!
Mods: Knit toe-up. They're upside down! I basically just took the toe-up pattern from the IK Summer 2007 issue and applied the Monkey chart to it.
Toes! Magic cast-on
Heels! Short row heel
I'm unsure of the short-row heel. These socks are kind of hard to get on over my foot, but once they're on they do feel like they're staying in place better than my other handknit socks.
Verdict: I love this pattern! I love these socks! With one giant, glaring exception. I hate this yarn. I was lured into buying it on impulse at my LYS because of all those pretty pretty colorways peering out at me. I didn't even realize the horrible yardage (less than 300 yds! For $21!) until I got home. But that's not the worst part. Here's the worst part.
Sock #1
Sock #2
Notice anything? Like how the colors on the leg of sock #2 are totally different? There was a knot about 3/4 of the way through the skein, and the colors were completely different on either side of the knot. For $21, such crappy yardage, and THE BASTARDS TIED TWO DIFFERENT COLOR LOTS TOGETHER. I'm not the only one this has happened to either. I've heard alot of stories about people getting skeins with tons of knots in them too. You better believe I will not be purchasing this yarn again. Y'all consider yourself forewarned. Needless to say, my messages to the US distributors have gone ignored. Luckily my LYS is awesome and the owner gave me the entire price of the skein back in store credit, without even asking for the defective skein back.
Anyway, pissiness about the yarn aside, I'm still pretty happy with these socks. Especially because I wear jeans almost every day, so the legs aren't even going to be visible.
Happy feets!
So happy that I started another pair immediately:
I'm being a copycat and am knitting all the stitches that are normally purled. I think it gives it a more subtle, smooth look, plus it's much faster. Yarn is Koigu KPPPM that I got with my aforementioned store credit from my awesome LYS.
*These monkeys are Capuchin monkeys we saw on a boat ride in Costa Rica. So cute! We got to feed them bananas. Probably breaking all kinds of eco-regulations about not feeding the wildlife, but so so cute! With their little human-like fingers! And their funny little faces!
15 comments:
Oh Thank God you stopped with those monkeys. They freak me out. I LOVE your socks. At first I thought of a reference to Schools out schools out teacher let the monkeys out....
can you tell school got out for my son today.....ahhhhh I relish the pace of summer
The Monkeys are beautiful! The monkeys cracked me up. Now I know what happens when you turn them upside down.
Great socks! That sucks about the knot, though.
The monkeys are so cute!
Nice Monkey's! Yikes, I have 2 skeins not wound from them. Don't remember if the first one was knotted. They still look good, but very frustrating I'm sure!
Thanks for the link on the no-purl Monkeys...I like yours! Hehe..love the name you gave them too! Nice work! zknitter from Knitty!
I love the monkeys! And the socks, too! Unbelievable that the yarn was two different dyelots like that. Glad you got your money back. Did you see some of those other little guys, too (I can't remember their name now)? In CR we saw these little critters which were like a mix between a cat and a raccon, always asking for food, very cute...
very clever post. :-)
i'm sorry that you had such a bad experience with the yarn. i haven't tried it, and after all the complaints people have had, i'm thinking that maybe i never will. life is too short and there are so many sock yarns to try.
anyway, great socks!
That's too bad about the knot! But the socks still look lovely :)
I like the all stockinette Monkeys, too; I think I'll do my next pair that way.
Both the completed monkeys & the second round are gorgeous. You selected such beautiful colors!
That it one cute monkey picture, and sweet pair of socks, bloody shame about the yarn - that's really bad customer service on the yarn distributor's part, but excellent service from your LYS. I love the idea of knitting the purl stitches, nice.
Oh, lovely! (The sock's not bad either :)!)
Shame about the knot in the skein, otherwise the yarn seems the perfect partner for that pattern. Truly handsome socks.
Thanks for the heads up on Jitterbug. I have two skeins in hiding I pet occasionally, and now I'm curious if there are knots to behold...
But your socks are rockin' regardless! They look great =) (Awesome name, also!!)
I had exactly that problem with the heels from that pattern! I thought they were so gappy, I wound up stitching them up with a seam later. Glad to see I'm not the only one. Yours fared a bit better than mine did, though.
The monkeys look great! And the new ones are so pretty too. I may have to knit myself another pair. :)
Mmmmm . . . Monkey Socks! I'm still too chicken to try them (have to resize for my little feet), but maybe I will. I think I have a skein or 20 of sock yarn lying around. . .
I'd love to hear more about Costa Rica. It's on our short "to-visit" list.
Love your monkey socks!! Stinks about the yarn though (especially since I have a skein or two in my stash...we'll keep our fingers crossed).
Love the second pair modifications too. I'll have to try those for my next monkey socks...the pattern is soooo addicting! xoxo carrieknits from the knittyboard
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