Christmas Socks (for me!)

During that same trip to the craft store, I was inspired to knit up a pair of holiday socks for myself. I did the striping with two different yarns and worked on making jogless stripes. I also learned how to make clean stripes while knitting rib stitches. Pretty cool!

With the exception of mis-matched toes (one is two rows longer than the other), I think they turned out really well. I'm not sure how that happened (probably just not paying attention) but once they are nice and worn in, it won't even matter.

 

Socks in secret

My youngest daughter got to complaining about not having any hand knit socks since she grew out of her last pair. I picked up this super wash yarn at the local craft shop and knit up this pair for her in secret, mostly after she went to bed in the evenings. I finished them in time to wrap them up and put them under the tree for her. She's going to be surprised - and they'll be perfect for the ice skating and sledding yet to come.

Hat for Mara

With the holiday socks finished for my husband, I had some time on my hands and dipped my toe back into stranded color work. This gorgeous pattern and kit came from Ysolda. It knit up in no time. 

Once it was blocked I put it in the mail to my friend in Seattle. I love the holidays!

Co-worker socks

One of my colleagues is leaving our office to attend graduate school full time. I knit up these Eternal Spring socks for her in our school color: UW Badger red. They turned out great!

Socks for Daughter #1

I started these back in the fall and finished one sock. I had just completed the first cable sock for my husband and needed a quick break. But that meant that the second sock waited until I finished the second cabled sock.

But not matter - I finished it up today while waiting at the orthodontist for the twins to have their braces tightened.

I love these socks. They are simple, colorful, and the distribution of the blues is perfect, IMO.

My three oldest girls (all whose feet have likely stopped growing) now have teenage-appropriate socks.

Mittens

This sweet pair of mittens is off to a fourth grade friend. I have made a couple pairs for her mom over the years and she always takes them during our cold winter months to warm her hands. So her mom asked if I would make a pair just for her.

These are slightly different - they don't have the rolled cuff - but they are buttery soft with purple lambswool on the palms and polar fleece linings. I used the ribbed edges of the sweaters for all the pieces so they were already nicely finished at the lower edges.

I used upcycled silver buttons from the original thrifted vest to keep the two layers together. They add a nice surprise and fancy touch I think.

Socks for Daughter #3

This pair came together quickly and have been on her feet ever since. Time to get them in the wash though...hand knit socks and 5th grade gym class don't make the best companions.

Socks for the Stocking

Here's the start of the holiday socks for my husband. Some lovely cables with a grey super wash yarn from KnitPicks. They are a bit on a thick side for socks, but he's going to love them!

FINISHED!

Mind the Gap, again

Every time I wear my Mind the Gap socks I get compliments. People love them! They are truly fantastic. This pair is going to a supervisor of mine that is moving over to a new position in a new office.

Socks

Purple socks for my Birkenstock loving 12 yo.  She asked for a pair of hand knit socks for the holidays but time got away from me and these needed to wait until January.  They were off the needles quickly though, and that color!  I hope it stays this vibrant.

The twins' feet are the same size as mine, so I knit these a bit large (~1/4-inch) in hopes that she can have them for many more winters to come.

In Wisconsin we know how to keep our toes warm!

Christmas Socks

I pulled off these socks with just hours to spare before the stockings were filled - a new pair of socks for my husband for Christmas.  Seems to be a tradition for me to knit him a pair each holiday.  These are particularly special, as we picked up this yarn when we were on vacation together in Oregon a couple summers ago.  I have since learned that Foothills Yarn and Fiber in Hood River, OR has closed, but this yarn will live on here in Wisconsin!

I did make a small mistake when casting on the first sock and forgot to put on a 1x1 rib at the top of the leg.  Fortunately I caught my mistake early and was able to frog a bit and knit up.  The cast off edge turned into the Italian bind-off and while not a complete match is good enough for my husband.

"Exquisite Corpse" socks

My Aunt is an artist in Sudbury, MA.  Her studio is located in the next town over and she often has shows and does other activities with her studio mates.  Last spring break I took my older girls out for a visit with her and her family, and one of the days we had a chance to visit her studio.

While we were there, she showed us a series of sketches she developed with her studio mates based off the game, "exquisite corpse".  They eventually each created an art piece based off their sketches and put on a show - it was amazing to see their pieces in the studio! 

Inspired by the collaboration, chance, and randomness of this game, my girls and I designed and knit up a pair of exquisite corpse socks for my Aunt to wear and enjoy.

I put all my sock leftovers on the couch, covered them with a towel and asked each girl to select three colors/yarns at random.  I kept their choices hid from one another until after their selections were complete too.

These are the six colors, plus unifying calf, heel, and toe gray color.

And these are the resulting socks!

We sent them out to my Aunt with a letter explaining our work and a hope that she'd at least admire them, of not wear them.  They were a huge hit!  I think that we can say objectively that they are not the most attractive socks, but they have a story and meaning.



















In thinking about this project, there are many different directions you could take it - maybe switch up the stitch patterns, but keep the same color throughout, or switch colors and stitch patterns every time.  The possibilities are endless!

Purple Kale

 

My Mom got a gift certificate to a local yarn store for the holidays, but she doesn't really knit.  So we made an exchange of sorts and I decided to pick out some yarn she would like and knit her a pair of socks.  The colorway is 'purple kale' and they are knitting up pretty funky so far!

 

Baa-ble Hat

Each holiday season we spend time with my husbands family during the days following Christmas.  This year I started a hat kit that I purchased at the WI Sheep and Wool Festival.  My nieces watched me cast on for the project and challenged me to knit it on one day.  And I almost made it!  I didn't in a million years think that I would knit as much as I did so I didn't bring my double-points along with me.  The last bit of the top of the hat had to wait, but I got about 90% finished in one day.  Yeah for some selfish holiday knitting time!

I left the babble off the hat for now.  I've never been very good at making pom-poms so thought I would leave this one be for now.  Pretty cute, huh?

Father and Godfather Socks

Then there were these two pair - bringing the grand total for the holiday season up to 12 socks! - that went to my Dad and my Godfather.

The pair above are a lovely blue and the ones below are a mellow grey tweed.  Both are superwash yarns and should hold up well to some hard wearing.

Tiger Shirt

All this girl wanted for Christmas was a tiger shirt.  My mom made it happen!

 

Daughter Socks (x4)

All my girls got handmade socks for Christmas this year too!  With some planning, and a good hiding place, I managed to knit a pair for each of them without them knowing.  There were the Packers socks, the Badgers socks, a plain blue tweed and a multi-colored pair.  (The pair my husband is wearing were a Christmas gift from last year.)

All the socks have been worn and washed and worn again (and again, and again) which makes me one happy knitting mama.