Toe-up Socks

This is my first attempt at both the magic loop and toe-up techniques. I have to say that I really like magic loop. I love knitting two socks at once, which is of course impossible on double-pointeds. By knitting the pair of socks at once, you know that both socks are exactly the same size. No measuring and hoping that both socks have the same number of rows. Beautiful! The toe-up technique is also really nice. It is gives a perfectly formed toe, which is a wonderful benefit. No seams. The fewer the better in my opinion. I used the make 1 technique from the bar between the stitches in the toe, but decided to use the lifted increase for the heel. It’s a much nicer increase and I will use only the lifted increase for future toes and heels. This has been a fun knit, but the colour is a bit dark, so knitting in full daylight is easier than when the sun starts to go down. I’m using knit picks 40″, 2.25 mm fixed circular needles. They are nice, but the joint could be better. It is a bit sticky and snags the yarn when you need to change position of the stitches and slide them from the cable onto the needle. Overall, I was really happy with how things went. I made my own sock blockers and they were a big help. The progress was a bit slow, which is to be expected when using small needles and fingering weight yarn. The yarn is a simple, variegated Patons kroy sock yarn. I used the seam free rounded toe for a toe-up sock pattern by Lynne Ashton at Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seam-free-rounded-toe-for-a-toe-up-sock. I am quite pleased with the finished pair of socks.