Crazy Quilt Socks MKAL Failure...

Or maybe more like I voluntarily gave up. I did pretty well keeping up with the first couple clues, but two MKALs at the same time is probably more than I should have taken on at the same time as starting a new job. I decided to wait on the rest of the clues until I had more time and then I started to see the finished ones from other people... It was decidedly not my style. I felt like it was something that I would never use and I wanted to use the lovely yarn for something else. I haven't quite pulled the trigger to frog these yet, but I will sooner or later.

I really loved the texture of the first part of these socks. I am considering just making a pair of socks with that texture the whole way up. It looks so cool and it's super squishy.

However, the further along it got the less happy I was with the design. I only completed the socks through clue three. 

It's a very interesting construction and I learned a lot from it. Wrap and turns were a complete mystery to me before this. The designer, Wendy Gaal from Knitters Brewing Company, had some great videos that she provided along with the pattern. They were very clear and concise. Now I need to work up the nerve to frog them...

This is, of course, the risk you take with mystery knits. I'm finding as I do more of them that studying the style of the designer is an important step. If their other things are not appealing to you chances are good the mystery one won't be either. I've sort of blindly jumped into them up until now and it hasn't always worked out.  The first one I did was the Westknits Building Blocks. I was not happy with that when I finished it, but I'm literally wearing it as I type this so it's grown on me.

The group aspect continues to be what draws me towards mystery knits and KALs. Even if the pattern doesn't end up being something that I would have chosen on my own there are a number of people doing it right along with me. When I hit a stumbling block there is someone else that has the perfect solution or trick to get me past it and I get to help provide that to others as well.

Things I learned from this project:

•  Toe up socks! A whole new world! - I used Judy's Magic Toe Cast On. It was a bit fiddly, especially on such small needles, but it is literally invisible. 
• Wrap and Turns - These little tricky things work really well. I may need to try to work them into the slipper pattern for my dad.
• If your yarn smells like vinegar wash it - The yarn I used for this was lovely, but still smells very strongly of vinegar from the dyeing even after sitting on the open air shelf for four months. When I frog this I'm going to re-skein it and give it a good wash.