FO Friday- M socks

This is another pair that nearly didn't get done in time for its planned FO Friday post, although I cast them on the first weekend of the M fortnight I didn't actually get to working on the until the end of last week. Fortunately the pattern is really quick so they made it in time.

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A (the free knitty version)
Yarn: Katia Ole
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Mods: Normal rib rather than twisted, slip stitch heel flap, adjusted lengths of each section to fit.

This pattern has been in my favourites forever, and I finally got around to making it. I can see why it is so popular (many thousands of Ravelry projects!). The pattern is easy to remember and can be worked out from the previous row if you put the work down and pick it up later, or if you just forget where you are. It is also really quite simple so they don't take much longer than a pair of plain socks.

The free pattern is only in one size, a 64st round. Since I was feeling lazy I went up a needle size from my usual 2.25mm. It made the fabric a little looser but not overly. This might be an advantage as my washing machine has a tendency to felt even superwash a little. You can purchase different sizes of the pattern, or alter it by widening sections but as I said I was feeling lazy.

The yarn came out nicely in the end. I was a little unsure about it. I did like it in the shop, but there was an element of "I am in your lovely tiny yarn shop I must buy something to support you" (you know that feeling right?). Although it is not the softest there are a few things I like about it- it is superwash and nylon, so should wash and wear well.
The long colour changes are good, if a little varied, it would work well for a shawl type project.
The thing I like most is that is is a two ply yarn which looks handspun because the colours of each ply are different. This gave me an idea, I have pulled one of the scrap ends apart and am going to use it as a model for the thickness and twist needed to spin a sock yarn during the tour de fleece. A little more twist will be needed in the singles, as it will have lost some in the plying, but it is good to have something to work from.

There are a couple of other version of the monkeys on Ravelry, one with no purl stitches and one with no YO holes, both look good and I would be tempted to try them if I needed a quick sock project.