when you knit a lot of socks it's only natural that you accumulate a lot of leftovers. i've read of people who just throw them out but i could never do that. i have an emotional connection to my yarn - as weird as it may sound - and i can't bear the thought of getting rid of it. it's just too pretty (and expensive) for that...
when i'm finished with a pair, i like to handwind the rest of the yarn into a little ball and put it into the above basket. i have quite a collection already. i think they look like a bowl of colourful candy - or more like wonka's everlasting gobstoppers...
i always knew i wanted to make crazy, colourful socks out of my scrap yarn. i've seen some lovely examples on various blogs and other websites - here, here, here and here to link only a few of my favourite ones. just google "leftover yarn socks" or "scrap yarn socks" and you will be overwhelmed by all the awesome randomness and funky pattern and colour combinations. there are lots on ravelry and pinterest too.
i've heard/read a lot of different names for these socks: leftover socks, scrap or scrappy socks, happy socks, monster socks, frankensocks, fun socks, crazy socks, random socks, funky socks. there may be many more... my current favourites are frankensocks and scrappy socks. and now that i think of it: how about scra-happy socks? haha! lots of fun to be had here...
apparently everyone has their own style when it comes to making these. some pick their leftovers blindly and use whatever they pull out of the box/basket/bag first, some select according to colourways or manufacturer, some blend by randomly knitting one or two rounds and then changing yarn, some knit five or ten rounds per yarn, some knit until they run out of yarn and only then move on to the next. the possibilities are endless. i think this is a wonderful example of how different scrap socks can turn out even when several people work with all the same yarn. (the link leads to a ravelry page - you need to be logged in to see the content.)
the only drawback you could say are the ends that need darning when you change yarns a lot. i did make a pair of striped socks once where i tied the ends using the flawless yarn joining method and the little knots don't bother me when i wear them, but it was uncomfortable to knit them so i decided not to join my yarns that way. (i only do when my yarn breaks or to re-tie a knot that happens to be in the yarn.) i haven't tried the russian join yet but it looks very useful indeed. i hope sock yarn is not too thin for that to work well...
for now i simply knit a couple of stitches with both yarns when i want to change colours. that way the ends are quite secure already and i only have to darn each thread a few stitches in the other direction just to be sure. i don't think my ends will ever go anywhere. it does not really show on the outside of the sock all that much - especially since the patterns and colours sort of blend anyway and it's not disturbing to wear eiher. as long as i weave in the ends every couple of stripes and don't leave them all 'til the i'm okay with all the darned darning. it's good to know that nothing will come undone.
now for the great moment! (can you tell that i'm madly in love and extremely excited about these socks?)
22 stripes of five rounds each featuring 16 different yarns (as i used some of them more than once).
this is the first one i made and it is awesome!
22 stripes of five rounds each again and 14 different yarns this time. apart from the pattern the only thing i did exactly the same on both socks was using the same solid raspberry red for the first five rounds that form the roll down edge. i've worked them on 2mm needles which gives the edge a neater finish i think.
this is the second one. i guess you could call them a pair - you know, because of the matching edge. but the really nice thing about these is that i could make another one and then another one and then another one and as long as i stick to the same exact pattern i could match up my "pair" to my mood. it doesn't always have to be the first and the second together and the third and the fourth. it could just as well be the second and the fourth...
imagine a whole drawer full of these - and not folded and stacked up neatly, as great as that may be - but all of them just tossed in and when you want to wear a "pair" you just pull any two socks out, put them on and have happy feet!
i didn't leave the colour combinations entirely to chance. i don't know how visible that is or if it's even visible at all. the end of the working yarn and the beginning of the next yarn are either in the same colour family or one of the yarns at least contains a colour that also occurs in the other.
when you look at the upper sock in the above picture and focus on the bright purple and orange stripes - just a little after the heel - you may think: why are these next to each other? well, the purple yarn is from a ball that has lots of wild colours forming stipes and the last half row of that purple stripe changed to a very poisonous orange which made it possible to move on to the red-orange zauberball. the brown-yellow stripe after the orange one (which may not have been the very best choice here but that's just part of the fun) led to a succession of yellows that went on for three stripes until it ended with the blue line which allowed me to move on to more blue tones. i say "made it possible" and "allowed me" as if i didn't have another choice. of course i did but i liked it that way for these socks. it made the colours flow...
i've already announced to my husband that he will be honoured with the task of randomly selecting the yarns for my next scrahappy socks by just handing me something out of the basket that visually appeals to him regardless of what i have been working with previously. i know subconciously i will always try to match or blend the colours - which is funny when i think about the fact that i never intentionally match my socks when i'm working with one ball of yarn. i love mismatched socks but i also like to have some sort of harmony. non matching socks form one ball of yarn are still harmonious because the colours and patterns are still the same. blending different yarns in one sock creates a harmony that the sock may need because it will be impossible to achieve the same colours and patterns again in another scrahappy sock.
i want to try completely random anyway... who knows, maybe i will like that even more!
when T saw my first random sock he declared he has to have a pair - or rather: two - as well and i may never take the sock off again because it is so great. how sweet is that...? there is his first one in the above pic. i have to put it on him to see if it is long enough to start with the toe already. he grew again and i can't rely on my measurements from his previous socks any more.
when my mum saw the scrahappy socks she said she liked them almost more than the normal ones. i think she didn't want to ask for a pair - or rather: two - directly. i will make her two, or maybe even three to mismatch even more, and mail them to her in a pretty decorated envelope. just because it's nice...
this is pair #56 by the way.
happy mismatching!!!