Best sock patterns for REALLY variegated yarn?

#1

Hey everyone! My amaaazing swap partner got my the prettiest Araucania Ranco Multy sock yarn:

You can’t even come close to seeing all the colors in the picture, but this yarn has blues, purples, greens, reds, pinks, browns, creams, and most every combination thereof. I want to show off the gorgeous, vibrant colors without confusing them in a stitch pattern, but I want to do something more than a plain stockinette. I’m looking for the PERFECT sock pattern for very colorful variegated yummy yarn :slight_smile:

Any idears?

#2

The first thing I thought when seeing that yarn was a nice mistake rib stitch. I can’t tell ya why, just me free associating.

#3

Wow! Does it pet as nicely as it looks?

#4

Mmhmm! It’s 75 wool/25 poly and it just feels like a nice, beautiful, great quality sock yarn. Melovesit:inlove:

#5

http://www.ptyarn.com/hanaumabay.html

This is one of the few patterns I think works well w/a varigated yarn.

#6

omg!!! that is sooo pretty! :passedout: im getting WOOOOOZZY just thinking about what you could knit up with that!! ill be on the lookout for a nice pattern!

#7

Blehhhhhhh! I decided upon Garter stitch ribbing. And I seriously got past halfway through the GUSSETT DECREASES and was like, Oh sheesh. This yarn deserves better. So I frogged.

:frowning: I wanna knit this up now!!! lol :wall:

Is it possible that plain st st really might be the best sock for a really busy yarn?

#8

That is such beautiful yarn, Rachel. Your swap partner has excellent taste!

I’m going to frog two inches of a pattern I started with some Opal yesterday and do the pattern listed above, it’s beautiful.

#9

I think that many slipped stitch patterns work nicely for variegated yarns. if you are designing your own, I believe that lionbrand.com and knittingonthenet.com have a section with stitch patterns. And, of course, there are the ever popular Barbara Walker stitch dictionaries. all you need to do (or what i do anyway) is email the publisher, with these books, it’s Meg Swansen’s Schoolhouse Publishing and ask for permission to use the st. patterns from the BW books in your patterns and then Meg asks that you simply state that the pattern was found in Barbara Walkers’s “a treasury of knitting patterns # whatever”.
Oh, Barbara Walker’s books are FANASTIC, I have 1 & 2 and they are great! I MUST get 3 & 4!!

#10

You may need to get past the ribbing, be it garter stitch or standard 2x2 ribbing, and into your chosen stitch pattern before you scrap it. I would think, though, that garter ribbing would look better then 2x2. Maybe a 3x1 would look good. Garter ribbing is usually only 4-6 rows.

But put your main thoughts into the leg’s stitch pattern - afterall there will only be 1/2"-2" of the ribbing.

I do think really buzy yarns really do look best in pain stockinette.

#11

What is the length of the color changes? Would it look nice done lenghtwise like this:
http://www.ptyarn.com/sidewaysopal.html

#12

What about another Monkey sock?

#13

mirl56: that’s a gorgeous pattern :inlove:

rachel: ditto Phaedra… how about Monkey? enough “covered” areas to show the colors, but still interesting. that is some yummy stuff you got there - congratulations! :cheering:

#14

I’m working on socks with that yarn (different colour and the colour is a little washed out in the pictures). Here are some pics of the yarn in stockinette (sole), a scroll pattern (instep) and being worn. That way you can see if you prefer stockinette or pattern. If I was doing them again, I’d do stockinette but since I’ve just turned the heel, I’m not frogging back. :slight_smile:

Every time I pick up this yarn I crave an Andes mint. :teehee:

#15

I’ve stuck with plain stockinette for the really gorgeous sock yarns too… I buy the yarn for the pretty colors, so I want them to take center stage. I suppose I should buy some plain sock yarn so I can knit some socks with a pretty pattern, hmm?
Here are my gorgeous socks in plain stockinette:

It’s the Artyarns Supermerino 8 in YarnMarket’s Impressionist series - Monet’s Garden. Beee-you-tiful!! :inlove: