pair #147 is a pair for my wonderful husband - his favourite one to date, as he says. the yarn is from a 300g yarn pack by Buttinette (Germany/International/Austria) called "Utrecht". there are two more colourways that might just be turned into more husband socks since he loves these so much.
pair #148 is an opal yarn from the Hundertwasser series called "Winterbild Polyp Wintergeist". it took me a while to warm up to the pattern and some of the colours but somehow it really grew on me and i actually love the oddness of it all. the picture doesn't really do the colours justice - which is why i didn't like the yarn at first because most photos i've seen of it so far don't really show them properly. you have to see this yarn in person to fully appreciate it.
the pattern repeat is very long - almost the entire foot of my socks - and so surprising. even after going through a few repeats i still didn't know what was coming next... (which is one of the reasons why i prefer to knit from the center of the ball.)
the pattern i used for these socks is the caterpillar sock.
by the way, it took me almost one-and-a-half years to finish these. don't ask me why... the longest i have ever taken for a pair of socks was two years.
this is pair #149 and i made it for my grandma when i visited her back in july. it was sooo hot and definitely not the most perfect weather for knitting but i had wanted to make my grandma a pair for a while and making them on the visit was the perfect opportunity to get the size right as she could try them on while i worked on them. i used two strands of some no-name 4-ply sock yarn - one solid magenta and one selp-patterning in matching colours - from the supermarket to create extra thick and warm 8-ply socks. (the extra warmth being a request by my grandma.)
this is pair #150 and it's very fitting that it was #150 because i've hoarded this yarn for a while and wanted to save it for some special socks. in the end i made some very un-special, plain socks with it because i couldn't find a pattern that suited my ideas for the colours and the pattern that the yarn creates. i decided to just make them very long to get a lot out of the yarn and to have some extra slouchy, cozy socks. the yarn is from the opal happy... sparkle collection (nr. 9093). as i understand it most of the opal sparkle yarns are re-launches of some of their more popular designs from previous collections. this was originally one of the sweet2 & spicy2 series, "cake pops", which i didn't get when it first came out. i was thrilled when it came back, all sparklyfied...
pair #151 is made using opal fresh & juicy "Schokotraum" ("chocolate dream") nr. 9364. it's a pair of mojo socks and i made them for my husband. somehow i had always pictured this yarn as a pair of mojo socks for my husband. i love the combination of blue and brown...
pair #152 is another pair of 8-ply for my grandma. i figured one pair just wasn't enough... i used two strands of 4-ply again, this time various solids (by various manufacturers) i had in my stash. i created a blended rainbow by using every colour for 10 rounds but changing the second colour every five rounds as follows:
i started with burgundy and cherry red - 10 rounds 2x2 rib, then i changed the burgundy to scarlet but kept the cherry red - 5 rounds, then i changed the cherry red to orange but kept the scarlet - 5 rounds, then i changed the scarlet to yellow but kept the orange - 5 rounds, and so on...
each colour was used for 10 rounds but the first 5 and the next 5 together with different colours each. i'm sure this would look really cool with the colours not in a rainbow order but randomly chosen as well.
i always find knitting with needles larger than my normal 4-ply sock size (2,5mm) really weird. even the 3,5mm ones i use for 8-ply socks feel like broom handles - haha!
pair #153 is a pair of scrahappy socks that i made as a christmas present. i've only made one longer pair of scrahappy socks before this one - all the others were short ankle socks. this one turned out quite funky and the individual socks are very different. while the left one is rather bold and more obviously stripy along the foot, the left one has the bold stripes on the leg and the foot is full of little patterns and speckles of loads of different colours. it looks like a child's birthday party with confetti and paper streamers.
here is pair #154 with the first half of pair #155 almost done. a friend of mine custom ordered two pairs of Harry Potter inspired Gryffindor socks she wants to give away as christmas presents. the two pairs are exactly the same. the weather was terrible outside when i took this photo (right in front of the terrace door where there was the most of the little light) so i'm not sure if the colours come across quite right but in real life they are beautifully bright and virant and in my opinion absolutely perfect for the Gryffindor house colours... the yarn is wonderful to knit with too. it's AKTIV by supergarne.com nr. 2532 and nr. 2522 and it comes in lots of lovely colours. i've used the same golden yellow yarn for a pair of Hufflepuff socks already and i've ordered a gorgeous shade of saphire blue to make some Ravenclaw socks as well but i have yet to find the right bronze tone to go with that...
thank you for spending time with me and my knitting! lots of love! xxx