See all the Mini Mochi colors here
See the Maizy colors here

Inspiration:
I love color work of any kind, and here Susan suggested we play with Maizy solids and Mini-Mochi to “pop” the colors.

Materials:
1 - 50 gm ball Maizy #1205, Hibiscus [color A];
1 - 50 gm ball Maizy #1206, Cactus, [color B],
1 – 50 gm ball Mini Mochi #107 Autumn Rainbow [MC].
Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN needles in size US 2 (2.75mm) for leg; US size 1.5 (2.5 mm) for heel & foot or size(s) required for gauge.
Large eyed tapestry needle or crochet hook

Gauge:
9 sts per inch (36 sts/10 cm) over 2 color checks for leg; 9.5 sts per in (38 sts/10 cm) over heel and foot in 2 color check.

Size: woman’s medium (size 7-9)

Abbreviations:
CO- cast on; dpn- double pointed needles; K- Knit; K2tog - knit 2 sts together; P- Purl; rep - repeat; St st - stockinette stitch; YO - yarn over; PSSO - pass slip st over; rnd(s) - round(s); st(s)- stitch(es); tog - together.

Instructions:
With MC and larger needles, CO 72 sts. Join, being careful not to twist. Place marker.
Work 16 rnds of K2P2 rib with MC.
Join Color A & begin 4 sts check motif, alternating MC and A for 4 rnds. Be careful not to carry the unused strand across the whole 4 sts or to strand tightly; it’s best to twist the two colors every 2 sts.
After 4 rnds, join Color B and repeat the 4 sts check motif.
(Note that the MC is shifted over and not worked on top of itself. Twist the unused A at the beg of each rnd if you don’t want to cut and work in ends later.)
Continue alternating A & MC with B & MC 4-sts checks until the checked section is ~4.5 in from start.
Prepare for heel.
Cut the non-working A or B so that you only have one color and MC (A as shown in model)

Harlequin Heel: starting at the marker with Maizy color A, K across 18 sts, Sl-1, turn and P back across 35 sts.
Row 1: With A, *(Sl1, K1) across 18 sts; now twist A & MC, drop A, & *(K1, Sl-1) across with MC. Turn
Row 2: With MC, Sl-1 *(P across).
Row 3: With MC, ((Sl-1, K1) across 18 sts; now twist MC & A, drop MC, and *(K1, Sl-1) across with A.
Row 4: With A, Sl-1, *(P across).
Repeat these 4 rows for the heel, continuing until the heel is ~2.5-2.75 in from start.
Cut MC, and turn heel thusly:
Heel turn: Sl-1, K19, K2tog, K1, turn. Sl1, P 3, p2tog, p1 turn.
Front: Sl-1, K across to 1 st before “gap”. K2tog, K1, turn.
Back: Sl-1, P across to 1 st before “gap”, P2tog, P1, turn.
Repeat these two rows until all heel sts are used up. End ready for front row.
Gusset pickups: K across ½ st and change to new needle.
K across remaining sts; pick up & K the Sl sts going down the side of the heel. Change to a new needle #2 and K the instep sts; change to a new needle and K the slip sts going up the other side of the heel. End by K across the remaining sts. Cut A.

Gusset: rejoin MC and K 1 rnd with no decs.
Rejoin color B and begin 2nd check motif, which alternates K2A (or K2B) with K2MC, for about 1 in with each pair of colors.
At the same time, dec down to the starting number of sts, alternating dec rounds as below and plain rounds thusly:
Dec round: On ndl 1, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1; on ndl 2, K across; on ndl 3, K1, Sl-1, K1, PSSO, and K to end.
Plain round: K with no decrs across all 3 needles.
When you have returned to the starting 72 sts, continue the check patt until the sock foot is ~5 in from start of 2-st cks.

Now begin Motif 3 for Toe:
3 rnds stripes of each Color A, B, & MC, which will continue down the entire toe.
When the sock foot is ~1.75 in from length of longest toe, begin toe decs.
Dec rnd: Ndl 1: K to last 3 sts; K2tog, K1; Ndl 2: K1, Sl-1, K1, PSSO, K to last 3 sts; K2tog, K1.
Ndl 3: K1, Sl-1, K1, PSSO, & K to end.
Plain rnd: K all sts.
You will alternate Dec rnd and Plain rnd until 8 sts remain.
Toe closure: cut the yarn, leaving an ~8 in end.
With a crochet hook, pull the yarn through the sts
one at a time, dropping each off the needle.
Pull tightly to close; tuck end inside.

(Designer’s note: this gathered toe works well for “leader toes” where the foot has a 2nd toe as long as the big toe; such feet “hurt” with Kitchener toes.)

Finishing:
Work in all ends. Try a crochet hook for this - no need to thread needle & this method is fast.

copyright 2009 Crystal Palace Yarns/Straw Into Gold, Inc. - We are happy to share this free knitting pattern with knitters. The pattern may be used for non-commercial personal or knitting guild use. It is not to be used in any publication in print nor should it be reproduced in electronic/digital format or elsewhere on the Web without permission. Knitting shops carrying CP Yarns Mini Mochi & Maizy are welcome to print and share this pattern with customers of our yarns.

Laura is the editor (and author-designer) of Friendly Socks, Vol.1, Friendly Socks, Vol 2: A-Z; a 3rd set Friendly Socks, Vol. 3, 50 Socks - 50 States, is in progress and due in October 2009. Information about these books can be found at http://siriusknitting.blogspot.com or www.siriusknitting.com .
Laura is the owner of Sirius Knitting Publications and can be reached at
drlaura -at- siriusknitting.com (change the -at- to @ to send email, we do this to help drlaura avoid spam).

Retail shops in the USA should contact CPY Wholesale for information on purchasing Crystal Palace Yarns and email cpyinfo -at- straw.com (replace the -at- with @)

or write to:
Crystal Palace Yarns, 160 23rd St., Richmond, CA 94804
phone: 510-237-9988,  fax: 510-237-9809