These socks are made from the amazingly simple Air Raid pattern by Emily B. Miller. It's a free download on ravelry. The pattern is well written and easy to follow. It's got a chart and written instructions for the lace so you can work from whichever you're more comfortable with. I found that after the first half of the first repeat I had the pattern memorized and didn't need to look at the chart any more.
As you can see these are definitely "fraternal" socks. I thought I had the colors lined up (the pattern is worked from the top down) but I clearly did not. The yarn comes in 50g balls so I used two. I knit both from the outside of the ball, so it looks to me like at the mill one ball got wound with the colors going one direction, and the other the opposite direction.
The yarn is Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi in the creatively named colorway 101. The colors really are as vibrant as they look in those photos. I got the yarn an a 9" Addi Turbo for Christmas/my birthday 2009 and cast on immediately. Yes, that means these socks were on the needles for just under a year and a half. I don't know what it is that keeps me from finishing projects. I just get distracted by the next new thing, then get distracted from that by the next new thing until finally I look on ravelry and realize "holy crap, these socks have been on the needles for more than a year" and I suck it up and finish them.
I love knitting socks on the 9" circs. I have small hands, so the the short needle tip doesn't bother me and I find that I can go round and round and round without thinking or stopping to move stitches or pick up a different needle.
This is the best I could come up with when Ryan said "pose like a model"... A life of glamor I do not have.
Over all I'm completely in love with these socks. The yarn is single ply so I'm a bit worried about how it will hold up over the long term, but it has a healthy nylon content so I'm hopeful. The yarn was a bit think-n-thin as most single plys are, but nothing too terrible. The colors are gorgeous and they are super soft. Also, Portland is still mostly below 70 degrees so wearing them is still an option. Wool socks after it hits 70 degrees loose much of their appeal, but below 70, bring on the wooly goodness.
Those socks are pretty! And that's a fantastic model pose. I should know, I've been watching re-runs of that Tyra Banks show all week.
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