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Here's my first pair of socks completed for the Summer of Socks KAL. Mini Monkeys! I have to say, even with Monkey fever happening all over blogland after the pattern came out, I was never drawn to knit some for myself. I didn't like the bumpy look of the pattern, which seemed to persist even after blocking and when wearing. I prefer something smoother.

Then, I saw these modified Monkeys by fiberjinx, with the little purl triangles knit instead. They looked much less bumpy, and I knew they would be my first SOS socks. I went through my stash and found the Jojoland Melody that I had won in a blog contest from Jen over at pieknits. I wanted to find a yarn with some interest to it, but not so busy that the pattern would get lost. I had never knit with the Melody before, but it looked like it would fit the bill.

And here is the finished product! I'm really happy with them.

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I really love this yarn. This colorway is plied with green, blue, and purple, with the individual plies changing independently to give the subtle color changes. Even the stockinette bottom of the sock is pretty:

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As you can see, I also did the picot edge and shorter cuff first seen (by me, at least) on Cara's blog. It was my first picot cuff, and while it got a little hairy there right at the end of the round on each sock, trying to figure out which stitch went with which, I think they turned out okay. They don't flare out at perpendicular angles to my leg, so I'm calling them good.

The details:
Pattern: Monkey Socks, by Cookie A, from Knitty
Yarn: Jojoland Melody, in color 7-Y17
Needles: US1/2.25mm, magic loop because my DPNs were lost (but now are found, they were buried in a pile of WIPs and other monstrosities next to my knitting couch)
Modifications: Picot cuff and shorter leg a la Cara, knitting the purl stitches a la fiberjinx. I also did a slip-stitch heel, because I like the thicker fabric on the heel.

Since I did short socks, I of course had yarn left over. Plenty enough for another wee tiny sock to add to my collection! (For scale, these are each about 3" cuff to toe). Normally they hang on the wall next to my computer, but today they took a field trip. Unfortunately, the marine layer blew in right as I was setting them up, so my sun went away:

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I've added a few since last time (the details for the first four are at the "my collection" link above). New ones on the right are, in order: another leftover from these, knit from a different stripe sequence than the first one; and new leftovers from the Jaywalkers (including contrasting heel and toe); and finally the Monkeys.