Tabi Toes

I won't crow and say I'm being completely successful until I actually finish the first sock and am certain it fits properly. I will, however, share pictures of my progress thus far and say that I'm enjoying working with needles bigger than a size 1; after two pairs of socks on tiny little toothpicks, I vowed never to use needles that small ever again. Size 2, though, feels comfortable enough for me to work with relative speed and ease.

As you can see, the first picture shows the finished toes. Those were a challenge, to be sure, which meant I had to learn some new tricks, like the provisional cast-on. Rachael, I can't thank you enough for that detailed description. I also had to learn how to do a three-needle bind-off. This was the lesser of the two evils, I thought, though it was kind of tricky keeping the stitches from sliding off the needles when I got to the point where there were only two or three left.

As usual, I've made things more complicated. It is, I've discovered, utterly impossible to do an isolated panel of colorwork when you're knitting in the round. I still want to add something to the instep and leg, which means I'll have to break down and learn to do duplicate stitch and just embroider the leaves after the entire sock is finished. We'll see, though. I may leave them the way they are and skip the intarsia altogether. And, yes, I do plan to ignore the no socks with sandals rule and wear these with my flip-flops since I don't actually have a pair of geta. This is, after all, their intended purpose. :P