Yarn: It’s Opal. It isn’t that soft, but it is sturdy enough to frog multiple times without degrading. This is, however … an odd mix of colors, shall we say?

Pattern: This pattern is probably Grumperina’s most famous, and it is written with a high level of thoroughness and detail. You don’t need to know anything about sock construction to use it, and she includes enough information for someone to replicate her procedure (except for, maybe, picking your own favorite cast-on).

That being said, I am not thrilled with the chevrons. They look nice, but they don’t stretch, which means this sock doesn’t hug my foot well. The smallest size barely didn’t fit over my heel, so I had to frog and start again in the medium size, but it is a shade too big. Also, the transitions from the chevrons to the heel or the toe which are worked straight are bumpy.

Execution: I used the German twisted cast-on to get started, and put my slipknot 60 cm into turquoise where it changed from grey. The cuff was 16 rows of 2x2 ribbing. The leg was 51 rows long before starting the heel flap. I followed the heel instructions exactly up to picking up stitches along the sides of the flap. I picked up 22 on each side (20 from slipped stitches and two more to fill in the hole in the corner). I did follow Grumperina’s guidelines for picking up stitches the pretty way, at least. The foot is 59 rows past the heel turn before starting the toe decreases.

It should be noted that the close match in patterning is somewhat of an accident. The first sock ended just a bit later in the color sequence than it began, and as it is a long color sequence, I didn’t feel like pulling out several dozen meters of yarn to find the next starting point. So I just started the next one anyway, and it worked out. I don’t think that has anything to do with the red blotches front and center on only one sock, and just to be clear I didn’t spill anything on them.