First toe up sock

I'm pretty new to knitting socks, and trying to round out my learning by trying various different techniques. I've done a few pair cuff down, so it was time to try toe-up. Seems perfect for those sock yarns that you buy 2 of to make a pair, like Panda Wool and Panda Cotton and Panda Silk and Lorna's Laces and ..... well, you get the idea. You take a ball of yarn, start at the toe and knit until done. Perfect! (like those old cook books "bake at medium heat until done").

I turned to Wendy's generic toe up pattern (thank you Wendy!!) with feather and fan for the top, and used the undyed panda bamboo/wool yarn we've got that I dyed a while back using Procion dyes. (I needed to do an experiment - do you dye a yarn thats bamboo and wool (plant and protein) using a dye for plant or for protein (Landscapes)? The answer is they both work great!)

And a close up of the feather and fan:

I'm pretty pleased with them! Well, "it" and a half, I'm up to the heal on the 2nd one. I think I like the heal flaps and gussets type socks better, but looking at all my store boughts of course, that's not what they use! I never considered the making of socks before, other than the difference between regular socks and those icky tube socks. THAT would be a quick knit, but yuck!

Somewhere out there in cyber land I saw something about toe up with gussets, so I may have to hunt that up. But no hurry, there are too many on the needles now. There's just no end to the inspiration and experimentation. Gotta love it!

On a side note, if anyone tried calling yesterday morning and were perplexed by no answer, it was because we couldn't get in! The ~one month old lock mechanism on the door decided to fall apart and keep us all locked out while Charlie feverishly tried to get it to cooperate. He was successful (thank you Charlie!), but no thanks to Schlage and the lousy lock they made. HEH. So, new knob, new lock, new keys and away we go. It's always something!

Happy weekend!

Diane