In Which the Pirate Has Rainbow Socks.

The first time I saw “Nothing Says Screw You Like a Rainbow” from White Birch Fiber Arts, I swore that I’d buy it if I ever got the chance. (It’s currently out of stock, but there are other rainbow and self-striping colourways available!) Even though I usually waffle over adding to my already-overflowing stash, back in July when I heard that there was some of this gorgeous yarn available, I hit “buy” without a second thought.

Self-striping yarn like this doesn’t need any textures or patterns, which is ideal for the mindless knitting that I prefer for my traveling socks. I cast on at the end of December, and then I knit while Michael drove up and down the east coast – to and from a snowboarding trip to Vermont…

…then to and from my inlaws’ for Christmas, and back down to Virginia for Chanukah and New Year’s, and then I knit on the airplane (link is to a video on instagram) to and from our vacation in Utah…

And now they’re done!

I started each sock at the beginning of the sky blue stripe, then knit 2×2 ribbing until the start of the rainbow. The heel flap also begins at the start of the rainbow stripe. I’m amazed at how well this worked out; apparently my feet are just the right size and the socks’ toes end right at the end of the rainbow.

The two-ply yarn is slightly thinner than I’m used to. I started with 64 stitches on US size 1 (2.25mm) needles but thought the fabric was a little loose for hard-wearing socks, so after the heel flap I switched to US 0 (2mm) for the foot. That 0.25mm really made the difference, especially in row gauge. When it came to the toe decreases, I worked two plain rounds between each decrease round (usually it’s only one) for a more gradually angled toe, ending with 16 stitches on each side before grafting.

Each new pair of socks is my favourite, but these might hold the position for a while.