Hello and welcome to another sock post. As you may know I took a break from knitting for more than six months last year and I slowly started again this past November, when I decided I just had to make some sparkly Christmas Socks, cost it what it may. (And to my surprise it didn't cost anything - apart from the yarn I bought - it made my hands ache not nearly as much as I had expected, almost not at all in fact.)
Pair #189 was for my son (whose feet are the same size as mine even though he's only ten years old and I have average size feet for a woman) using sparkly Woll Butt "Weihnachtswunder" (Christmas Miracle) 6891. Most Woll Butt sock yarns come in value packs of three or four 100g balls in coordinating colours. They have at least one such pack of sparkly Christmas yarn every year and I always look forward to seeing what they came up with. Woll Butt yarn is always really nice to work with and it's always good value for money.
(I don't know what my son does to his socks but they always seem to get fuzzy really quickly and I have no idea why. Mine don't... Do anyone else's handknitted socks go fuzzy like this?)
Pair #190 was for my husband using another colourway from the same "Weihnachtswunder" pack: nr. 6890. This particular pack appears to be sold out but if you want to have a look at buttinette's other products (they have all sorts of craft supplies) you can find them here (for Austrian customers) and here (for international shipping and orders within Germany).
I was really sneaky when I made this pair. I just knitted away and then showed my husband an almost finished sock one night as we were sitting on the sofa. He was totally caught by surprise when I told him the next morning that there was a freshly washed and warm pair of socks on the radiator for him - haha!
This is pair #191. This is from a sparkly Woll Butt pack called "Tannenbaum" 82227 (which is still available - links above the picture). I made these for my daughter's best friend who was very excited about the previous sparkly socks when she saw me making them. I got them done in time before Christmas break started.
I took this picture before I washed them for some reason which is why they look a little creased and crumpled.
This is pair #192 and I made it for my sister's partner. My sister very shyly asked if I could make him a pair and wanted to pay for them but I wouldn't let her =) The yarn is from the September 2020 Opal subscription box.
Pair #193 is the first sneaker pair of the season - a little early I know but it was the pair I had to abandon last May and wanted to finish now. The yarn was from the May 2020 subscription box but has now been released as part of the "Freche Freunde 2 - Das Klassentreffen" collection. It's "Miss Sunshine" 9955. The pattern is Tennarisukka by Taina Anttila.
Pair #194 is made using a ball from the December 2020 subscription box. This yarn will be available in early July 2021 as part of the Rainforest 17 collection: "Thea steht am Tor" 11093. The 6-ply version will be available at the end of July 2021.
I love this yarn and the rust colour matches my favourite sweater really well. I don't usually match my socks to the rest of my outfit but sometimes it is a fun thing to do and when I do I find it oddly satisfying... The pattern is Tennarisukka again.
Pair #196 is yet another pair of mojos for my husband using a ball of yarn from the May 2019 box. My husband chose it (as I always let him choose the yarn for his socks). He said it reminded him of space and the universe and since he said it I totally see it too even though I wouldn't have thought of it before. There are some photos of galaxies that totally have similar colours...
Pair #197 is another pair of mojos but for my sister's partner again. He was so thrilled with his first pair that I decided one simply wasn't enough. (And he mentioned jokingly that he was prepared to wear the first pair until the stench took one's breath away - haha!) Anyway, since he proved himself to be knit-worthy he's likely to get some more.
The yarn for this pair was in my September 2019 box but is now part of the "True Love" collection: "Häkelheld" (which means "crochet hero") nr. 9861.
This is pair #198. I made it with the skein of hand dyed yarn that came as an extra with the Christmas 2018 Opal box.
It has lovely shades of blue, lilac and raspberry red and I did a mixed stitch pattern on the leg. They turned out a tad too big for me somehow and I think I'll open up the toe and re-do it a bit shorter.
Pair #199 I absolutely looove! I flew through this pair - it took me just two days to knit. I'm not entirely sure what it is about it exactly but the yarn just sang the most beautiful song to me. It was in my December 2020 subscription box and everything about it is just delicious: the shades of orange and egg-yolk yellow, the bubblegum pink and cream stripes, the contrast the carribbean blue provides. It makes me think of Indian fabrics, everlasting gobstoppers and, for whatever reason, ice cream. I wish I had more of it...
This colourway will be part of the Paradise 6-ply collection which will be available in late September 2021: "Regenbogen des Vertrauens" (rainbow of trust) 11022.
Pair #200! Wow! Who would have thought I'd get to 200 that soon after all? Just less than five months after my 10 year sockiversary - which was the original aim. I had kind of lost track of the sock count with the last 10-15 pairs so I was caught a little bit by surprise by this pair being #200. I thought it was somewhat anit-climactic because I had pictured a fancy pattern of some sort for #200. I don't even know what I would have chosen but at least something more special than a pair of Tennarisukka sneaker socks. But then I remembered pair #100 and how I saved it for trying out a new pattern (it was the first and, so far, only pair of cabled socks I made) and that I ended up not liking it at all and I gave it away.
This pair I do like very much and I know I will wear it a lot once it's sneaker weather again. (In fact I wore my red canvas sneakers for the first time this season last week when we had a few days of surprisingly warm, dry and springlike weather - it was really lovely actually!)
The yarn is from the December 2020 box again - I've used three of them within only two months, they were that awesome - and I love all the shades of green, the bright carribbean blue and the pop of red. They just look like spring and I suppose my choice of yarn displays my craving for warmer weather and fresh growing things.
This yarn will be part of the Rainforest 17 collection, both in 4-ply and 6-ply, available in early and late July 2021 respectively. The colourway is called "Sandra spielt den Pass" 11094.
I also made a pair of felted slippers in the middle of February. I didn't take them into the sock-count though. I never had issues with cold feet in our current home - it was our 5th winter here - but this year something was different somehow. I don't know what it was, the heating worked just fine, but even the hand knitted socks could keep my toesies cozy... I had bought this pack of 4 50g balls of felting wool last winter (I think) but didn't need it then. It came with a set of 8mm dpns - they felt like broomsticks - and instructions for the slippers. I spent two late afternoons/evenings knitting them, felted them right away, let them dry on the radiator over night and put them on all nice and warm in the morning. I really like them. I think my husband might want a pair as well...
I really hope all my talk about Opal subscription box yarn isn't driving you mad. I know how frustrating it can be to have people shove lovely things under my nose when I know I can't get my hands on them so if you feel that way: I'm sorry!
But I will continue to share them anyway...
Lots of love! xxx