I am beginning to feel a bit behind with progress for my Secret Sock Pal.

Lots of other members in the exchange have yarn, patterns, and a plan. Grumperina has conducted scientific tests regarding gauge and foot size. Carolyn is knitting socks at a remarkable rate to warm up. And Purly Whites is trying out patterns in practice socks to ensure sock perfection when it really counts.

I have .... a couple ideas and a fair amount of stashed sock yarn, none of which seems appropriate.

Also a factor is my serious stash of Kool-aid packets, featuring basically every flavor known to man. Dyeing yarn seems like the way to go. Which I will do as soon as I get around to ordering some more dyeable yarn. Hey, I have until September 15, all kinds of time!

This weekend I made a half-hearted attempt at trying out a sock pattern.

Although it might look like nearly nothing, this was in fact the beginning of Ann Budd's A Pair of Socks (the girl version) from Interweave Fall 05. (link to the pdf)

However, early on I decided this pattern with this yarn (Koigu P822, previously seen as a contender for the Chevron Scarf) ended up looking too messy. Instead of pretty ribbed socks, I went with the old standby, 2x2 ribbing.

and they're not for my sock pal. The yarn is seriously the color of antifreeze. I can't send that to someone I've never met! Besides, I kinda want to keep them...

I finished the first sock pal sock! It took about a week of knitting time. I wasn't knitting anything else during this week, which should give you a sense of how much knitting time I have these days - not much!

But I am worried. It looks huge. Is it going to be too big for my sock pal??

Here it is compared to my standard ribbed sock. These socks both have the same yarn(Koigu), same needle size(2), same number of CO stitches(60). The only difference is that one has ribbing and the other does not.

The sock pal sock measures 8.5" inches around, unstretched, and my sock pal's foot circumference is 9". So this should be good, right? Even though it looks huge, it is really okay, right?

please say yes.

Yarn: Koigu KPPM in shade 822
Pattern: 60 st sock with 2x2 ribbed leg and instep
Needles: Size 2, Crystal Palace DPNs for one sock, Magic Loop for the other one

This is my 6th pair of handknit socks. Someday I will branch out and knit socks that are not either ribbed or stockinette. Really, it could happen.