Sock Fever, I haz it.

I don’t really remember the last time I finished a pair of socks, or even knit on a sock, for that matter, but in the last couple of weeks, I got hit hard with the sock bug. And it all started with those Wee Skeins. I turned out the first two socks in record time, I swear, about 5 days. Then I started with the dyeing variegated yarn. So I had to knit a skein of that up too, quality control and all, you know. Then I had another idea along the lines of the Wee Skein socks, so now I’m working on that.
Today though, variegated socks are on the menu, or sock. I only had one skein of the Rainbow in the Dark colorway stolen from the shop put away for myself, so for now it’s a single sock indefinitely.
Truthfully, I’m not the biggest fan of variegated yarns. They pool. They puddle. They can get muddy. But boy do I have fun dyeing them! And on occasion they can be very pretty, so for this skein, I decided to work it up in a stitch pattern that kind of blends the colors, and reduces the severe pooling look. So says I.
I used a very simple Mistake Stitch Rib, the interlocking garter bumps between the columns of Stockinette is what I like.

So here’s a basic recipe- executed toe up style.
Using your very fav toe up cast on, I like the Turkish Cast On, though I’m sure it has other names, I found it in the Fall 2005 Vogue Knitting, and have been a big fan ever since. This is a good tutorial.
Once you’ve got a good closed toe cast on figured out, cast on some stitches. I cast on 32, or 16 wraps if your using the turkish cast on. Then you’ll need to increase 4 stitches every other row until you’ve got 56 St (what I used), or a multiple of 4 stitches. Once you have that, knit a couple of rows for good measure.
Then, pattern as follows:
Row 1: Work K2 P2 across stitches that will be the top of your foot, Knit all stitches on the bottom of your foot.
Row 2: Knit all stitches.

Continue on just like that until you’re ready for your heel. I use a short row heel, the one that can be found in Simple Socks Plain and Fancy, by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. She also has a more basic pattern, Priscilla’s Dream Socks, in the Interweave Press book, Favorite Socks.
Work short row heel over half your stitches, the bottom half, to be specific. When you’re done with your heel, count your stitches to make sure you have a multiple of 4, then continue rib pattern over your entire stitch count.
Row 1: K2 P2 around
Row2: Knit around.
Cast off when you’re sick to death of the whole thing. Voila!
Simple enough, and pretty, vanilla socks with sprinkles, if you will.