Fruit Stripe Gum Socks... done!

Fruit Stripe Gum Socks

I got these socks done in a jiffy.  They were so fun to knit that it was hard to put them down.  The pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry and is called "Fruit Stripe Gum Socks".  The pattern works best for self-striping sock yarn.  The socks look as if they may be complicated to knit; some folks think the socks resemble entrelac knitting which is quite labor intensive.  The pattern is actually very simple. Once you complete the ribbing portion of the sock cuffs, you work the leg portion and the pattern is *knit 2, yarn over, knit 2, k2tog* around (every round) over a number of stitches which is a multiple of 6.  The sock pattern also calls for increasing the number of stitches after the cuff is complete and then decreasing the same number of stitches after the leg portion and before the heel. The pattern also includes a different heel which I believe is called an "eye of partridge" heel.  The pattern is very well written; I highly recommend it.  This is one of those projects where you just need to select the perfect yarn for the pattern.  I don't think the pattern will look as good with self-striping yarns that resemble fair isle, but I have not tried it yet. It's fun to look at the completed projects using this pattern on Ravelry to see what yarns work best.  I got lucky. I think this yarn worked very well for this design.

This yarn has a funny story.... it's the yarn I almost lost. I went to the Salida Fiber Festival in September 2017.  After selecting the yarn, my husband and I went to a restaurant for lunch.  The restaurant was so busy and crowded that no one ever came to take our order.  We just sat at our table for the longest with the menus.  We decided to leave and we found an even better restaurant to have lunch.  It was a beautiful day, we got to sit outside, and I had the best salad (it was so good I remember it).  As we were sitting there, it occurred to me that I no longer had my shopping bag with my new yarn.  I had lost it!

After we finished our lunch, we decided to go back to the initial crazy crowded restaurant to see if maybe someone had found my yarn; perhaps they had a "lost and found" box with mittens, baseball caps, wallets, etc. that had been left behind.  When we got to the restaurant I looked over at the table where we had waited for awhile.  There on the table sat two menus and my shopping bag with yarn! I don't think anyone ever noticed that we had sat there and clearly no one noticed that we had left.  

Here is the link to find this pattern on Ravelry (click HERE).  Also, here is a close up of the label from this yarn. It is so nice! There are a lot of On Line Supersocke 4-fach (4-ply) yarns but the "Merino Extrafein-Color" is very luxurious.  If I find it again, I'd buy it.