Z is for Zokni

Which, according to Pepperknit, means "socks" in Hungarian. So, behold my latest pair of socks. Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks from Winter 2005 Interweave Knits. Yarn: Trekking XXL Color #109 Needles: US 2 Addi Turbo Modification: Did a long tail cast-on rather than the tubular cast on. (I'd already started the 1x1 twisted rib for the Monkey socks from Winter 2006 Knitty when it was suggested that we needed a sample knit up from the '05 issue because the shop has extra issues on hand, otherwise I would have tried this cast-on.) Said "screw that!" to the cutting of the yarn after the heel turn. Oh, what's that behind the socks you ask? Let's zoom out a bit. Custom-made by Dad Sock Blockers! My mom saw my plastic ones from Fibertrends and decided she wanted a pair for herself. I tried offering her those, but she suggested that Dad could make some for her. So we got the wood at Home Depot (don't ask me the dimensions of the board. All I know is that it was Oak) and carted it home to the downstairs workshop. My Dad really got into it. First, we traced the plastic blocker's shape onto the the wood. We left the cut outs in the first pair for quick drying. Those went to my mom. Then we made a set with my oldest sister's feet in mind. She of the size 11 foot. The next day we got more ambitious and made a pair for men's feet (a bit wider and a bit longer) and a pair with a longer leg for future knee highs. These are the ones that came home with me. And the flip side. I did a total of like 5 coats of polyurethane on them. Only because the first 3 were a satin finish and that just wasn't working out. On the one man blocker you see it's a darker shade. That's because we first tried a poly spray with a darker stain in it. That didn't work so well. For the final 2 coats I went with a brush on high gloss poly. I love my new blockers. Dad is so awesome for making these. He really enjoyed it too. He traced an extra pair to have a template on hand should I call and say I want some more. Heh. He even got me the pieces to put together a pvc niddy noddy. Bezzie, you'd be proud of him. The pieces cost only $4.37. I haven't taken pics of it yet though. Ok, continuing with showing off the sock, check out the details. The heel with the garter stitch edging. Brilliant way to carry down the purl ridge separating the leaf columns. The star toe that completes the last leaf (Again, brilliant. And I really like the way the round toe fits me too): A close up of the way the striping of the Trekking worked with the leaf pattern: So yes folks, you can use a self-striping yarn to make a patterned sock! I took a chance using this yarn for the pattern, but it worked out fabulously!