Fiber Fool

Pattern: Coyote Ridge Anklets, available in the shop or below
Designer: Myself, Kristi Schueler
Size: Women’s US 9.5 Shoe Size
Yarn: 2 Skeins Crystal Palace Panda Wool, 1 ea of Basil Curry (0443) and Saffron (2209)
Recipient: Me :-)
Dates Worked: Late June, I’m not sure of the exact dates.

This spring I was at one of the LYS in the area and fell in love with the Panda Wool and Panda Cotton. It had such fun colors and was nice and shiny and just looked like it would work up well. I love the basil curry colorway but there wasn’t a second ball in a matching dyelot so I picked up a solid ball of saffron to go along with it. Originally I had intended to knit most of the sock with the solid color and the heels and toes with the varigated, but I decided to go out on the limb and use the multicolored one for the main color. I’m glad I did. It obscures the stitch pattern slightly, but the texture is the important element in the design, not the individual stitches. It also didn’t pool in a bad way which made me jump for joy. I’ve had some bad luck with pooling yarns lately.

The Panda Wool was great to work with and I’m looking forward to working with the Panda Cotton soon. They both have a fair bit of stretch so the one size should fit most adult women’s feet when knit in the yarn called for. Some guidance is provided to adjust the size and to length the leg to a more traditional sock if desired.

While Chris was visiting after EPWM we went on a hike at Coyote Ridge and because Chris is a more experienced hiker I stopped at the cabin part way up and let her continue on the hike. While at the cabin, besides taking copious pics of prairie dogs and other flora and fauna I knit on the last sock of the pair and nearly finished it there. It struck me as I sat on the porch making each stitch as I heard the birds and prairie dogs chirping that the colors in the sock were not unlike the colors of the nature area - warm peachy tones resembled the shale that dots the tops of the ridges and the stitch pattern gave the socks the illusion of repeating ridges of their own. In honor of the hike with Chris and the color and beauty of the Coyote Ridge Natural Area I decided to dub these anklets with the same name.

I know people have different definitions for anklets vs peds etc so call these fun short socks what you will, but either way they were a blast to knit. Despite the rather long stitch pattern, the lace was easy to memorize and quick to knit too, but provided enough interest to keep me knitting at a good clip. The pattern is written from the top down on two circs, but it is easily converted to DPNs or magic loop. A bit more work should allow for toe-up construction as well. The heel is a reversed wrap short row heel that highlights the wraps rather than hides them, but makes for a very smooth interior of the sock - perfect for those with more sensitive feet. I also snugged up the arch area as I know short socks have a greater tendency to slip or rotate on the foot and a snugger arch helps reduce that. It should be trivial to swap out your preferred heel or toe if you wish.

• Skill Level: Intermediate
• Sizes: 1 sizes for 8-9 inch ankle circumferences, with guidance for other sizes
• Yarn Requirements: Crystal Palace Panda Wool, 1 each, Basil Curry and Saffron
  46% Bamboo, 43% Wool, 11% Nylong, 170 yds/50 gms

• Needles: 2 - US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Circular Needles of 16 inches or greater length or size needed to obtain gauge of 9 st/in in St st

$5.50

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