I've got spots; I've got stripes, too

First of all, a disclaimer. I have a very hard time getting the gorgeous plum color of this yarn to look even close to reality on my monitor. God only knows what it will look like on yours. Trust me, it is beautiful.
The yarn featured in this post is Shibui Knits Sock in color 229, Mulberry (deep merlot purple). Click the link to see a little bit of the yarn much more like the real color.

I started out making the Charade pattern. It's a very nice pattern and pretty simple so it was a good choice for knitting during an MDT visit where I needed to do a lot of listening. Knitting helps me keep my mind in the room, as long as it doesn't require all of my attention and much chart flipping.
The problem with this pattern is that paired with this gorgeous yarn and my gauge it made not at all subtle spiraling stripes. Not really what I was going for.

Before giving up all hope, though, I decided to put it on holders and try another pattern. This time I selected Green Merino Socks. Though mine are, quite obviously, not green. I started with the (optional) Latvian Twist Edge.


I proceeded with the pattern and found, to my delight, that the slipped stitches (and different total stitches in the round) break up the striping very nicely.


You get a nice variety of shades, in a random distribution. Much better, don't you think?

spots and soon-to-be-frogged stripes