Almost a year of socks

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Last year, I decided to knit a pair of socks a month for three very good reasons. One, hand knit socks are awesome. Enough said. Two, it usually takes me a month to knit a pair of socks anyway. Three, I had a lot of sock yarn. While I only managed to knit ten pairs and probably have more sock yarn now then I did a year ago, I’d call it a good year.

From left to right:

January: Center Stage | ravelry | download |

February: Konnichiwa by Judy Summer | ravelry | 

March: Gentleman’s Fancy Socks by Nancy Bush | ravelry | 

April: Alternates | ravelry | download |

May: Diamond Gansey Socks by Wendy Johnson | ravelry | 

June: Harris Tweed Socks by Ali Green | ravelry | 

July: Two Toes Tabi

August: Alternates.V2

September: Charade by Sandra Park | ravelry |

Three of the patterns - Center Stage, Alternates, and Two Toes Tabi - are my own designs which makes me really happy. Center Stage and Alternates are freely available here. Two Toes is still in prototype form. Hopefully not for too much longer though. 

Birthday Socks

Yarn: Cascade Sassy Stripes - 715 (discontinued)

Needles: 2.25 mm

Date: Sept 27, 2010 - Jan 5, 2011

My last pair of the year, which I actually finished this year (but don’t tell anyone), was supposed to be a birthday present in October. I mixed up my usual sock pattern a little bit and then added a 3x2 rib. With self striping yarn, you don’t have to do anything more than that. With a little work, I even managed to get the stripes to match. Besides from that, I really liked this yarn and the Bearded One does too. They’re his socks after all so he’d better like them.

My three reasons for knitting a pair of socks a month in 2010 still seems totally reasonable and I’m in for another year. Maybe I’ll knit 12 pairs and put a dent in my stash. Maybe not but it’ll be fun all the same. Here’s to a new year of socks!

Two July Socks

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Pattern: Prototype

Yarn: Plymouth Sockotta - Black and Red

Needles: 2.5 mm and 2.25 mm

Date: July 3 - August 5, 2010

@Ravelry

If you've been following this blog for a bit, it should come as no surprise that I love socks. I love knitting them. I love wearing them. I love browsing sites for socks I'd never knit. My sock drawer is actually 2 drawers, well, 3, if you count the one dedicated to the socks I've made. What's more, I have a great love/obsession with every kind of toe sock. Tabi socks, where the big toe is separate from the rest, are a personal favorite. They're fun to wear and, even better, they're fun to knit. 

I'm not the only one in the house who loves tabi socks and this pair is for him. The challenge of these socks wasn't their large size. The challenge was starting completely from scratch. Other toe up tabi patterns have hard seams between the toes or just sew up the gap. Neither of these techniques quite appealed to me. Plus, I needed a pattern that would fit a US 14 foot at a gauge of 9 sts/in. Didn't have much luck finding that. In order to get what I needed, I came up with my own pattern and it's a pretty good start. However, it's not quite ready to be released into the wild. Tweaking aside, the finished pair has gotten the official seal of approval and another pair isn't too far off. Just not this month.

A July Sock

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July 31st has come and gone and there's still an unfinished sock on needles. I did manage to knit a gusset, turn a heel, work a heel flap, and knit 1.5" of ribbing; however, before all that, I also had to rip out most of a gusset, a heel turn, and a heel flap. Bah. Hopefully, I'll be less error prone on the second sock and finish it over the next few days.

Of course, all the ripping and the poor, lonely sock on the needles didn't stop me from casting on for another pair. It's only been a two days and I've already reached the cuff on a striped sock. Gotta love sport weight yarn.