Fuzzy possum sock

This is my current office knitting project, the “Contemporary Brewster Socks” from a recent issue of Piecework.  It’s a very simple stitch pattern that is mostly stockinette with a moving purl stitch.  I find it pleasantly swirly.  I’m planning to modify the pattern slightly on the second sock so that the purls swirl in the other direction.

In keeping with the symmetrical swirl idea, I made the toe decrease lines lean left on this sock to match the leftward swirl in the main stitch pattern (normally my standard star-style toe swirls rightward).  [Thanks, Steven, for suggesting this!]  I usually use a SSK if I want a decrease to lean left, but this time I tried a K2togtbl (knit two together through back loop).  I’m not sure I love it, but I’m glad I tried it.  And it is easier and faster to work than SSK, I think.  Can you see it here? It’s difficult to see, I know.  I’ve been surprised how much the slight halo that the possum fiber brings to this yarn obscures the stitch definition.  I had a devil of a time picking up the gusset stitches because I just couldn’t distinguish one stitch from the next.  Maybe this was partly because of the yarn’s color, which is a bit more like charcoal than what you see here.  Still, I think the halo caused most of the challenge.

These socks will be great in next year’s Fall/Winter wardrobe.  They seem out of place given the outburst of spring here, though.  I think my next sock project will need to be COLORFUL!