A Bit of A Frankensock

In our rather small and cluttered apartment (one follows the other, I find), I'm really fighting stash. It would be great if I could knit through some yarn and have less to move when we get a house!

I made a pair of top-down socks with Trekking 6-ply in color #1801 (or, as I put it, a BIT More Pink Than I Thought, But It's Ok.)

When I finished, I weighed the socks - they weighed in at 79 grams - from a 150-gram ball! So, there wasn't quite enough to make a second pair from the same ball. 

To the stash under the bed I went! Here's the problem: I don't have a lot of yarn in that weight (although I certainly will get more now that I love in Minnesota!) So, I tried doubling Simply Sock Yarn Solids in Navy and started from the toe on #3 needles.

It made a VERY firm and thick fabric, but it would be pretty tough on the hands in the long term. I need to explore using doubled sock yarn on #4 needles. After the toe, I switched to the rest of my Trekking, weighing the leftover ball until it weighed only about 36 grams. 

I then wanted to switch back to the navy yarn - but I couldn't handle the feel of the double-thick yarn on that part of the sock. So, I increased from 50 to 70 stitches (k2, m1, k3, m1) around - and finished the top of the socks!

Dee thinks the deep color change makes it too obvious that I ran out of yarn, but I almost always wear socks with long pants, so who will know except for me?

I feel like I got the best of all worlds. A super-strong toe. Cool colors and a tough-wearing yarn through the body and heel. A thinner, more stretchy sock top for my, um, sturdy calves. We'll see how it wears, but for now I'm thrilled!

I promise I will write the pattern, eventually. I kept good notes on the heel, both top-down and toe-up. A 52-stitch or 48-stitch sock would have been a lot easier to work, but...live and learn!