just a few socks to share with you today:
this is pair #129. i used solid grey yarns by opal and i changed the colours every 7th round. as mentioned at the end of my last sock post these are my husband's and he absolutely loves them!
for pair #130 i used one of last year's woll butt "christmas magic". (this yarn is not available any more but Buttinette came out with two new sets of sparkly christmas yarn this year: here for shipping to austria and here for orders within germany and international shipping.)
i used various different patterns and textures for the leg of this sock. it's not really very visible when i wear them, also because i hardly ever pull my socks all the way up, but it's lovely all the same...
for pair #131 i used the other half of the opal "fresh & juicy - pepper" yarn (which i don't think looks like pepper but more like raspberry). they are Hermione's Everyday Socks (again) and they are for my sister to prove that textured socks are nice to wear - she was a little sceptical when i showed her my Tennarisukka version in the same yarn. (somewhere in the middle of this post.)
pair #132 is the pair of mitred square patchwork socks. the yarn is gründl "hot socks" 402.
you can find a picture tutorial here and it is linked in the right side bar under "tutorials and guides".
i'm going to give them to my mum. firstly because i know she'll love them and secondly because i can't stand them any more since writing the tutorial...
pair #133 is a stripy pair for T. i think it's just so adorable how he loves my handknitted socks and how he appreciates them whenever he gets new ones... i made these perhaps half a centimeter longer than necessary so he wouldn't grow out of them over night (he's 7 years old and i think he's growing pretty fast right now - judging by the amount of food he needs at the moment).
but i think the heel - my usual short-row heel - was a bad choice because they slide down. it really bugs me because usually socks only tend to slide down when the foot is too short. the socks are not too wide either and only at the toe two or three rounds longer. and the heel used to fit him before. i don't know what went wrong with these but maybe they will fit better when his feet fill out the extra space... the yarn is gründl "hot socks" 405 by the way.
these are R's little feet showing off pair #134. i think my kids are both doing a great job at sock modeling - haha! for this pair i used what was left from the patchwork socks, gründl "hot socks" 402.
i don't know if it's just me, but i always felt that it's hard to knit well fitting socks for children. especially baby socks are tough because i haven't yet come across a pattern that will make the socks actually stay on a baby's feet! as the children get older it gets easier but either they turn out too big and then you forget you have them until they are almost too small again, or the shape of a child's foot is just not "shapely" enough yet to provide areas for the sock to hold on to properly. and the heel is always a problem when it comes to kid's socks. but like i said: maybe that's just me and i simply haven't found a pattern yet that will make good children's socks...
i have made a start by exchanging the short-row heel for T's next pair, pair #135 - gründl "hot socks" 404, for a classic heel flap and turn. maybe it's a man-thing - heel flap and turn fits my husband better too...
otherwise they are pretty much exactly the same as the pair pictured above. he's been wearing them for half the day and they stay in place perfectly. he needs a few pairs now because he likes wearing them in shoes and to school and in general, just as i do.
i sort of thought, when i first started making socks and getting just one done took forever, that i would never make socks for children. i thought that it would just take too long and that by the time i was done the kids would have grown out of them. also, as mentioned above, i've had bad experiences with knitted socks or booties for babies because they kick them off all the time.
now that my children are older and i know their socks will fit at least one winter, i don't mind making socks for them any more. they are quick and easy to make because they need fewer stitches and have shorter feet and they really appreciate them. T likes to wear them during the day and R likes them as bed socks. and another great thing about little socks is that you can make them with just one 50g ball of yarn. i found these self striping yarns from the above three pairs in the craft section of our local office supply store and they were really inexpensive but good quality. that's a bonus that makes me feel less bad about little feet getting bigger so quickly. now i just have to find something to do with all the outgrown socks. maybe i'll turn them into an advent calendar at some point...
for now my knitting needles and sock yarn have been banished. i noticed the first symptoms of repetitive strain injury a while ago and decided to stop for a few weeks before it gets so bad that i have to stop for even longer or give it up entirely. that includes crochet work as well which irritates me a lot because i have only one more round to do on my crochet blanket. maybe i'll just try and do it, carefully, slowly and bit by bit.
i hope you all enjoy whatever you're doing! lots of love! xxx
p.s.: i sorted my freshly washed socks into their drawers today. i find that i really enjoy doing this. yes, they are articles of daily use but they are also very personal pieces of art that took time and skill to make. i have a sort of connection with each and every pair. you can laugh if you like, but i arrange them according to colour. as i said, i enjoy doing this - not because i have an obsessive-compulsive disorder but because i just love to see how all the different colours and patterns play together. i often don't put the same pair in the same place again because i can't remember where i took it out and since i don't match the pattern repeat when i knit them i get to see a different pattern and different colours depending on the way i fold them. i can rearrange the colours in lots of ways...
these drawers measure only 24x26cm and they are 13cm deep. except for one pair that's currently in the washing and one that's on my feet there are all of my own socks in here. (and the little chest of drawers still has a 4th drawer that could be filled with socks...) #operationsockdrawer