MT Socks

A dear friend of mine asked me ages ago if I was willing to knit her a pair of socks for barter. Normally I don't do any sort of commission work, because I think most people just won't value the amount of hours that go into a pair of fingering weight socks. But she was quite firm that we should trade value my time for her time, which was a really happy compromise, as she is a massage therapist. After going through what was in my stash in the range of colors and care instructions that she was looking for we came up with these:

Pattern: Basic Sock Pattern by Ann Budd
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Bamboo Color in 1066
Supplier: Mind's Eye Yarns

The pattern was nothing fancy, just a 2X2 ribbed sock which had the ribbing extend all the way down the foot for best fit. I would probably make them a little longer next time as this only took 1.67 skeins. I was a little nervous about running out as these are several sizes larger than I usually make (10"/25.5 cm), but it turns out the cuff could probably have been 1-2 inches (2.5-5cm) longer without issue.

I hadn't worked with this yarn before, and in fact had added it to my stash with the intention of finding out what I thought of it. In the end I can't say that it was my favorite thing to knit, but for a "warm weather" pair of hand-knit socks I like it better than the cotton/wool sock yarn blends in terms of the knitting.