Let me just start by saying that these are the best, most wearable socks I have made yet. I actually finished the first pair quite a while ago but writing this post has been on the back burner since I've been busy with a new-ish job and lots of Christmas knitting. January's almost over and I'm still finishing up the second pair of these socks as a (very late) Christmas present for my aunt.
The broken seed stitch pattern makes these socks go a little slower than the stockinette socks I've been making recently, but it's gorgeous. It looks like little scales! For the finished pair, I used Paton's Kroy Socks in Blue Stripe Ragg and Premier Yarns Deborah Norville Serenity Sock in soft white. I picked up metal size 1 needles from Joann and used them for the first time on this project. They're longer than my bamboo size needles and I prefer the feel of them. I used my regular number of stitches (64) and the socks turned out perfectly snug.
The second pair uses the same white yarn and the same Paton's Kroy Socks yarn in another colorway- Cascade Colors. The color variation in the yarn gets super muted in this pattern due to being mixed with the white, but the socks still look pretty.
In the first pair of socks, I had issues with getting the two colors of yarn in the right place to pick up after the heel. I had to cut the yarn and reattach it when I got back around to the right spot. Because this pattern is more of a "recipe" than a pattern, it doesn't go into detail about where to change colors.
For the second pair, I tried out the method from the Rose City Rollers where you knit the heel flap and heel like normal but pick up an extra stitch on each side when starting the gusset and start the gusset decreases half a round later than usual. This means you begin your round at the start of the instep instead of the middle of the heel. It's hard to describe over text, but it worked for me and I recommend taking a look at the gusset and gusset decreases section of the Rose City Rollers pattern to help with the Broken Seed Stitch socks if you're having issues.
The only other change I would make if I knit these again is to do a stretchier cast on. I used the long tail method for both of these pairs and it makes it a little hard to pull on your foot.
