Yes, the exclamation point is in the official pattern name. I am not that excited about lacy ankle socks. Although they are quite nice.
Another pair of ankle socks courtesy of the prolific pattern writers at DROPS, these are knit top-down with the lace pattern wider than the front of the sock so that the pattern is about than three-quarters of the total number of stitches in the round which gives them a particularly delicate appearance, without actually being delicate to wear. I went and spoiled the effect with my use of a tweed sock yarn (Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in Dill Heather) which does disguise the pattern a bit.
It took weeks to get a decent photo of these! With daylight savings time I get off work after the sun has gone down, and I’ve found that indoor photos don’t really do the trick. I ended up stepping outside for a minute while wedding dress shopping with my future sister-in-law on the weekend (hold up, guys, have to take my shoes off and take foot pictures next to a busy sidewalk downtown!) but it’ll work.
The downside to shorter socks of course is the left-over sock yarn, but the holiday sale at the gallery is currently running through the end of January, so I’ve been weaving bags and that’s a quick way to use up left-over stash. Come by if you’re in the area!