This design uses the clusters of Five-stitch (or Four-stitch, which is a variation of Five-stitch) in a vertical chain, forming this ribbon or tire-tread look. The panel does pinch a bit--which is a little unusual in most of these Color Loop designs. Those 3 columns of knitting together don’t have as much stretch because every stitch is neighboring with another Color Loop stitch, pulling vertically and not allowing the horizontal movement the mini-floats allow in other designs. But even with that, this sock fits normally because the spacing of the “trails” is wide enough for the rest of the sock to take over the stretching necessary for comfort. Yarn credits for this sample sock:

Malabrigo Mechita Eggplant, purple, 100% merino superwash single ply, purchased at Green Planet Yarns, San Jose, CA. 2018.

Western Sky Knits, speckled pink egg, pink, smooth sock, 75% sw merino, 25% nylon, purchased at Stitches West 2018.