I renamed my Smooth Operator sock project to WTF, Stripes? on ravelry. You might remember from my sock post last week that I decided to make these socks identical twins instead of the fraternal twins I usually make. I figured since the pattern is specifically geared toward having an uninterrupted stripe pattern, I might as well go for it. Also, one of my main goals in sock knitting is to try something new with each project. So I painstakingly went through the yarn (which conveniently is in two separate skeins) and found what I thought were identical spots in the color sequence, and cast on.
Look! Matchy matchy!
Everything went swimmingly for about the first dozen stripes. There were two stripes each of orange, yellow, red and then pink. Silly me, I thought that sequence would just repeat itself. Well, next thing I knew, one sock had three stripes of orange and the other had three stripes of yellow. And then it just devolved from there! One sock went back to two stripes per color, but in a different order, and the other sock went to one red stripe, three pink stripes, then pairs again. So I guess I’ll get fraternal twins after all.
Really, stripes? Really?
That is, of course, totally fine by me. I was just surprised! Otherwise things are going well. My gauge is a lot better than on my last pair (about 8 sts/” instead of over 9.5), so I think they will actually fit me. If anything, they’ll be a smidge large in the foot, but that’s okay. As long as they fit my ankle and calf! I like the toe increases I ended up with (m1r and m1l) and I’m nearly ready to add the waste yarn for the afterthought heel.
If you would like to make your own Smooth Operator Socks, matching or not, then head over to Susan B. Anderson’s ravelry group, itty bitty knits. In the next couple of days, she’s starting up an informal KAL. Come join in the fun!
Are you doing any sock knitting? Feel free to post about it on Thursdays and link up with the group! Also, you can share your projects on Instagram with the tag #thursdaysockalong. Check out my fellow Thursday sock knitters here:
- fiberandsustenance
- Hannah at unsophisticated + jejune
- Iseago at nursingandknitting
- Jennifer at a creative yarn
- Paula at Spin A Yarn
Happy sock knitting!
alexand knits 
I’m looking forward to starting my Smooth Operator socks in August…maybe then I can play along with the Thursday Sockalong! 😀
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Yay!! We’d love to have you!
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Yay, thank you!
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These are looking great! It’s always so funny when self striping yarn decides it has a mind of its own!
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Thanks! Yeah, I thought it was pretty funny. I’ve never seen one go so off the rails though! At least I love the colors, no matter what order they’re in.
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Yes, exactly! They look fabulous
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They look fine! And at least the toes are match match so you can prove you tried. 😉
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Thanks! Yeah, I made the effort!
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Wow! You’ve come a long way…much further than I 🙂 I like when they are not so matchy matchy. I wonder if it was the way you wound up the yarn? Either way, they look fabulous!
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Honestly, I like it too. And the stripes are at least still occurring at the same time, even if they aren’t the same color. I didn’t have to wind the yarn as it came in two pull skeins, so I guess the sequence is just kind of random!
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I like your sock yarn. Maybe the dyer had a bit of an oops while dyeing the stripes? I have the husband’s socks on the needles, sock one hasn’t gotten much love since hip hop last week. I plan to try out an afterthought heel on my own.
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