Foot Notes

Incredible to relate, during the blog drought I started and finished a pair of socks. Could the drought have been so long? Objectively it wasn't, or rather the combination of pattern, Puschkinia by Kirsten Kapur, and yarn, Fiber Optic Yarns Foot Notes Paintbox Gradient, were just so compelling that time stood still. Whatever. I'm quite pleased with the results.



The yarn was an impulse splurge at last year's MDS&W. I don't often do that, but I'm glad I indulged. For one thing, I fell in love with Foot Notes while making Camino de Santiago. (Did I ever post its FO photo? No?? Gah, lemme fix that.) The yarn is wonderful to knit, on the softer and less sproingy side, yet with excellent stitch definition.



Then there's the colors. Foot Notes Paintbox Gradients are comprised of 15 skeins of 30 yards (27 m) each. I selected the Wild Thyme colorway – it was very hard to choose, they're all so wonderful. Costly too, but ah well.



The pattern is masterfully written, as all of Kirsten's are, with helpful exposition for less experienced knitters (but not so much more experienced knitters become annoyed). In the flower section I made the CC yarn dominant over the MC yarn, and reversed that in the ticking stripe sections. I offset the ticking stripes just for fun, made an eye of partridge heel for fit, and a contrast toe to match the heel. It was a most enjoyable knit. Were I to knit the pattern again, I'd use two solids rather than a gradient to make the colorwork and stripes pop. But that's for next time.