Materials:
2 - 50 gm balls Panda Superwash #9598 black (Color A);
2 – 50 gm balls Mini-Mochi #101 intense rainbow (Color B).
This is enough to knit both a pair of adult woman’s & a pair of baby socks. (see baby socks pattern here)
Crystal Palace Bamboo dpn needles: sizes US 2 (for leg and cuff) and 1.5 (for heel and foot, or size required for gauge.
Large eyed tapestry needle or crochet hook

Gauge: 8 sts/inch (32 sts/10 cm) over St st on larger needles.

Size: woman’s medium (size 7-9)

Abbreviations:
CO- cast on; dec- decrease; dpn- double pointed needles; K- Knit; K2tog - knit 2 sts together; P- Purl; rem- remaining; 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 Color A (black), cast on 72 sts. Join, being careful not to twist. Place marker. Work ~1 in of K2P2 rib with color A; switch to color B and work ~1/2 in K2P2 rib. Knit 1 rnd, increasing 3 sts to a total of 75 sts.

Begin Rainbow Stripes Pattern:
Rnd 1 (black): K
Rnd 2 (black): P
Rnds 3 and 5: [K2, (Sl-1, K1, Psso) x 2, K1, (YO, K1)x4, (K2tog) x 2]
Rnds 4 and 6: Knit
Rep these 6 rnds until leg is ~7" from cast on edge, ending on rnd 2.
Note 1: the non-working color should be twisted with the working color at end-of-round marker; this means it is carried up each round and not left behind.

Begin Heel:
Note 2: This heel is planned to keep design pattern going down the center of instep. The heel shown is worked by alternating Color A & Color B. Alternatively, you may choose to work heel in only one color.
Now K12, turn, P back across 39 sts.
Place the rem 36 sts on holder for instep (This is 3 K sts on each side of 2 pattern repeats).
Heel front: *(Sl-1, K1), across.
Heel back: Sl-1, P all sts across.
Rep these two rows until heel is ~2.5" from start, or desired length.
Heel turn: Sl-1, K20, K2tog, K1, turn. Sl-1, P4, 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.
Rep these two rows until all heel sts are used up. End ready for front row

Gusset pickups: K across ˝ sts (alternating both colors) and change to new needle.
With Color B, K across rem sts; pick up & knit the slip sts going down side of the heel. Change to new needle #2 and K instep sts in patt, beginning with Rnd 3. Change to new needle and K the slip sts going up other side of heel. End by knitting across rem

 sts.

Gusset decreases: dec down to 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 in pattern; on ndl 3, k1, sl-1, k1, psso, and K to end.
Plain round: K with no dec across all 3 needles.
When you have returned to the starting 72 sts, K even until sock foot is ~1.75" from length of longest toe.
Toe: Toe is worked alternating Color A & Color B (or, alternately, work in only 1 color).
Now begin toe decreases.
Dec rnd: Needle 1, K to last 3 sts; K2tog, K1.
Needle 2: K1, Slip1, K1, PSSO, K to last 3 sts; K2tog, K1.
Needle 3: K1, Slip 1, K1, PSSO, and K to end.
Plain rnd: K all sts.
You will alternate Dec rnd and Plain rnd until 8 sts remain.

Toe closure: cut yarn, leaving an ~8" end. With a crochet hook, pull yarn through sts
one at a time, dropping each off needle. Pull tightly to close; tuck end inside.

           Intense Rainbow color

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 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, Fifty States, is in progress. 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