"Once more with feeling!"

One of our local craft stores is going out of business later this spring. I am sad about this and have been stopping in to pick up a skein of sock yarn here and there while I still can. What I loved about this yarn store was the huge selection of yarns! They carried yarns from most of the big companies, but also many local Wisconsin producers and small batch dyers too.

This is "Once More with Feeling" by Brew City Yarns, knit up in the Hermione Everyday Socks pattern.

As you can see, I was still working this sock with DPN's - maybe I'll give the second sock a try with two circulars?

From the toe up

One of my New Years resolutions was to learn how to knit a sock from the toe up (with a bonus of learning how to knit a sock using two circular needles). I'm proud to report that I have tackled this project and also learned Judy's magic cast-on.

This book has been a huge help, and I am following the ribbed ribbon lace pattern for this first pair. The yarn is "The Upside Down" by Leading Men Fiber Arts - I love that I am learning how to knit this pair of socks "upside down!"

I have been playing around with different circular needle lengths too - I found 9-inch to be too short, 16-inch to be comfortable, but a bit unwieldy, and 12-inch to be about perfect. I am enjoying these 12-inch driftwood needles by Lykke for the time being.

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.

Stormy Sky Socks - "They look just like his other ones," she said.

Here are the holiday socks for my husband for 2019. Each year I knit him a pair and tuck them in his stocking. This year I went with Felici yarn from KnitPicks in Stormy Sky. They turned out great! These were done in late October, but the photos were added in early 2020.

When I showed them to one of my daughters she remarked, "they look just like his other ones." True, true (but not really). He does love brown, navy and gray and all of his socks have been one of those colors, so she has a point.

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!

Darning Mushroom

Never used one of these before, but a hole in the bottom my my husbands sock meant I had to try. I think it went pretty well - I opted for the woven technique since the edges were pretty frayed. The repair has been holding up nicely and doesn't seem to bother him too much - success!

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.

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!

New Sock Yarns

It's that time of year again. On the needles are a new pair for my husband, with a pair for my 11yo in the queue. She picked the cream yarn with black flecks. She said, "I wonder if it will look like a piece of music when it's all knit up?" What a cool question.

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.

Longstocking Monkeys

And a cozy new pair of socks for me to welcome the cooler fall Wisconsin weather.

"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!

Mind the Gap!

Finished up with just enough time to still wear them a couple times - a pair of fantastically colorful socks.  The pattern is the basic sock (7sts/inch) by Ann Budd.  I knit these a bit on the snug side, just because.

The yarn is a specially dyed, self-striping, fingering weight nylon/wool blend by Trailing Clouds.  It was specially ordered and delivered to me in a matter of days.  Global commerce is incredible.

The colorway is inspired by the 12 colors of the London Underground.  It reminded me of my trip there in January 2009.