before i show you all the many socks i've made (or finally managed to photograph) since the last sock post, i want to show you my project journal:
this is where i keep track of all the socks i knit: which yarn and pattern i use, how many stitches i cast on, how many rounds i do for the cuff, leg and foot, what type of toe or heel i use and if there's anything special in general that needs to be noted down so i don't get the second sock wrong. i like to tape in snippets of the yarn and the ball band. as you can see it got quite chunky but there's still lots of room. i had to do a little spine surgery because it just wouldn't close any more. it went from this
to this
and i'm very pleased with how it's working and how it's looking - i just love seeing how it gets filled up with yarny memories...
(you can find out more about these leporello books here.)
now, let's sock:
pair #79 is a pair of kid's mojos for T. i changed the mojo pattern a little to make it fit small feet better. he picked out the yarn: Woll Butt "Christmas Magic" 6408, a seasonal release by Buttinette.
for pair #80 i used Drops Fabel print nr. 677. i only had a 50g ball but wanted them more longish so i used two shades of Drops Fabel uni - applegreen 112 and petrol 105 - for the stripy legs. this yarn is rather voluminous. i made the socks exactly the same as i normaly do for a perfect fit and they turned out about 1,5cm too long for me. i gave them to a friend who wears turquoise, teal and petrol a lot and she loved them.
pair #81 is a pair of tiny mojos for R. i changed the pattern even more. since we all had sparkly christmas socks she needed a pair too of course. the yarn is "Christmas Magic" 6408 again - same as T's.
pair #82 is a pair of scrahappy socks my mum ordered for a colleague of hers. i had a hard time giving them away - they are so full of memories...(i apologize for the bad lighting.)
pair #83 is made using opal Hundertwasser yarn. this one is called "Regen auf Regentag" but i only used it for the foot and made the legs with solids in stripes again as i did for the Drops Fabel socks. these went to live with my aunt.
pair #84 is my 2016 pair of christmas socks. i finished them on christmas day and got to wear them during the christmas holidays. the yarn is Woll Butt "Christmas Magic" 6406.
pair #85 was my mum's christmas present this - well, actually last - year. last summer i made a short pair of ankle socklets with the left overs from two different rainbow yarns. my mum really liked them but they were too small for her so i ordered more of the rainbow yarns and made her a pair. they weren't finished for christmas but she got them on new year's eve instead. the yarns i used are Schoppel Wolle Zauberball "Frische Fische" and Next Yarns "Samba" 4254. i changed yarns every seven rounds.
pair #86 was for my brother. i can't believe how long it took me to make a pair of socks for him! i guess it's because i don't really like making socks for men... i always feel like it takes so long. but for these i used 6-ply yarn so it wasn't that much slower than socks for my mum or sister or myself... the yarn is Austermann Step Irish Rainbow Colours 629.
this is pair #87. i have a fight going on with these socks. i made these using my collection of solid coloured sock yarn. i used the exact same number of stripes and the exact same number of rounds per stripe in both socks and one of them is about 2cm longer than the other! i don't know what to do with them now...
i assume it is because even though the yarns are all 4-ply they have a difference in volume and fluffyness. on one of the feet i must have used more of the fluffier colours than on the other... i guess i will have to find someone who has different feet or make 2 more socks that match each of the mismatched ones and hope that i will end up with two differently sized matching pairs...
pair #88 is the pair of happy socks. i finished them on new years eve, more than nine months! after i started them. i feel bad about that, especially since knitting them went so well until just past the heel... then i got bored with them a little and made lots of other things and then the little cotton bag i kept them in went missing during moving. terrible, i know! but it re-surfaced again and i finished them. they fit very well and i like the colours a lot.
pair #89 was cast on on new year's eve. i picked this yarn because it made me think of colourful fireworks... it's opal sweet&spicy 3 - Fruchtgummi (nr. 9127). the pattern is called Mojo Light Socks and it's a free ravelry download.
for pair #90 i used a Schoppel Wolle Crazy Zauberball "Papagei" that i bought with some of my christmas money. i've been wanting one for ages and i love all the funky colour combinations... the pattern i used is called Tennarisukka and is a free ravelry download too. it's actually for sneaker socks - i just made them with long legs. the combination of knit and purl stitches creates a lovely texture.
for pair #91 i use opal Funny... with silver sparkle "Spaßig" (nr. 9330). the pattern is Hermione's Everyday Socks (free ravelry download). it's a very simple pattern with such a great effect - i love these socks. i made them with an afterthought heel.
i made pair #92 for my mum because she liked the yarn so much. it's opal Schafpate VIII "Blickfang" (nr. 9206). there was a mini ball of this yarn in my opal advent calendar and i really wanted a whole ball of it to make socks with... the pattern is called Ecken und Kanten (free ravelry download). it's in german but there are charts for the pattern and the only other thing you need to know is that it only works with 64 stitches. you can do whatever cuff, heel or toe you like and repeat the pattern for the leg as many times as you want to. i did only one pattern repeat before the heel as i wanted to keep them short. this was the first time i ever really worked with a chart and after a little confusion at the start it worked quite well. i also tried a garter stitch short row heel for the first time and it sits really nicely.
for pair #93 i used what was left of my opal sweet2&spicy2 "chilli". i used a solid beige yarn for the roll-down edge, heel and toe to make the most of the little that was left. i love wearing knitted socks even in summer.
this is pair #94. if you've read through my other sock ramblings - congratulations if you've managed! - you may know that this yarn, Atelier Zitron Trekking XXL nr. 550, is my most favourite yarn of all. (very closely followed by all the sweet&spicy yarns.) i've knitted two pairs of socks with this yarn before: the first turned out too big so i opened it and made a smaller one which turned out too small so i gave it away. this one finally fits! i chose the mojo pattern for them because i love to wear it and mojos always fit - even when made with "difficult" yarn. (do you know the kind of yarn that makes the socks turn out a little loose when cast on with your usual number of stitches but too tight when you go down by four? that's what i'm talking about when i say "difficult" yarns.)
pair #95 is a tiny little pair for my little girl R. she loves her little handknitted socks but it's really hard to get a picture of her feet while she wears them... for these i used some leftover opal sweet2&spicy2 "Honig" and a Drops Fabel Uni (nr. 110).
pair #96 is another short one. i used the left over opal Hundertwasser "Regen auf Regentag" from my aunt's socks. i like the length of them - really nice to wear.
pair #97 is a pair of caterpillar socks made with opal Hundertwasser "Der Blaue Mond". i made it exactly the same as another pair of Hundertwasser socks i have. i could mix and match them if i wanted to...
almost twenty pairs of socks made between the middle of november 2016 and the middle of february 2017. there was a lot of catching up to do...
i'll try and post more regularly again - i promise...
have a wonderful day and week everyone! happy knitting and crafting!
you can find the patterns for the mojo and caterpillar socks in the right side bar under "tutorials and guides".