Contrast Blast Surprise Sock-a-long - The project report

I decided to do Stephen West's Contrast Blast mystery sock knit-a-long on a bit of a whim.  It was four clues in four weeks, I had plenty of left over yarn in stash and there was no reason not to.

Unlike Stephen's Shawl mystery knit-a-longs, which I have participated in the last three years, and will probably do again this year, it was a bite sized commitment, usually taking two knitting days each week. The techniques we used were fun, lots of texture and variety and, like the rest of Stephen's knit-a-longs, a really great, chatty community on Ravely. 

Look at that heel. It's beautiful.

What about the finished object? Well, I think my socks are slightly too big for me, but going down a size would have made them too small. They are quite comfortable, but the purling near the ankle makes them sag down and look a bit like the Michelin man.

They are certainly cute, and comfortable enough. I wouldn't wear them hiking, but I mainly wear vanilla socks hiking, so that's not a big deal.

All in all I'm very glad I played along and will do so again, if this become an annual event.