Pair #205 for R. The yarn is gründl Hot Socks "Simila" 306 which is designed to give you two identical socks. The design actually incorporates some more coloured stripes on the toes too but for R's feet I didn't need that much yarn.
Pair #206 is a plain pair of "men socks" I gifted to my uncle - I don't know his attitude towards funky socks so I played it safe. The yarn is the last one from my December 2018 Opal box.
This pair - #207 - was inspired by this one I found on pinterest. I couldn't find a written pattern for these so I just looked closely at the image and improvised.
I really like the long rib and half the solid heel (standard German short row heel) and half the patterned one. The yarn is Aktiv Uni 2413 and the self striping yarn is Aktiv "Funny" 4734 by supergarne. I actually "amputated" a section of orange with khaki speckles from the yarn after I had knitted it - haha! It looked good in the ball but once knitted up I decided that the orange bit didn't go with the rest at all, ripped it back, snipped the orange part off and re-joined the yarn. You'd never know...
Pairs #208 and #209 are exactly the same except for the yarn. I made these for T at the start of summer. The pattern is my junior mojo (which can be made to fit adults as well). You can find it here. The grey yarn was in my May 2020 Opal box but is part of the "Ocean" collection: Rauschende Welle 9975; the blue striped yarn came with the March 2019 box and seems to have been a subscription box exclusive. T chose both of the colourways himself.
(Fun Fact: T came home from one day, kicked off his shoes and pulled the grey socks off his feet. Quite in 10-year-old boy style he just tossed them somewhere and I haven't seen the second sock since. He'd been wearing them for the first time...)
These two - #210 and #211 - were custom orders. They are mojo socks and I used Schoppel Crazy Zauberball in "Herbstwind" (the top one) and "Der Lenz ist da" (the bottom one) which where selected by the person who ordered the socks.
I always love working with these yarns.
This is pair #212. I made these last September and used the caterpillar sock pattern. These were the perfect Halloween Socks - orange, purple and green (with a witchy black skirt). The yarn came with the September 2019 Opal box and I don't know why I waited two years to knit with it - I love it! I suppose I had to admire it for a while first...
This colourway is part of the "Lifestyle" collection: Die Frohnatur 9874.
Somehow they turned out a tad too big, I'll have to redo the toes eventually. Either my feet shrunk or my hand issues messed up my tension (probably both) because I've had problems with sizing the socks I make for a few months now - I can't seem to rely on a specific number of rounds for the foot fitting my/my husband's feet exactly any more.
Pair #213 is a pair of girl socks for R. She chose the yarn which was part of the December 2020 Opal box. These were in the works since late May and I only finished them early last October. That happens...
R asked for new Christmas Socks this year since all the old ones had gotten too small. I made pair #214 using some sparkly Christmas yarn by Woll Butt - "Tannenbaum" 8227. I had used some of this yarn for another children's pair the year before so I had to finish one sock with some yarn from the same pack (lots of Woll Butt yarn comes in value packs of 3 or 4 100g balls). The colours are the same and since I hardly ever make matching socks anyway it's not immediately noticeable. I went for a simpel k2-p2 rib all the way from top to bottom and they can be worn long or folded over (which looks adorable with tights/leggings and a skirt/dress).
The yarn for pair #215 came in my March 2021 Opal box but was released last autumn with the "Herbstmelodie" collection: Früchtetee 11122. My husband chose this yarn for another pair of mojo socks and he's been wearing them a lot since I finished them a week into December. (Partly because a few of his pairs need darning which I haven't done yet...)
Pair #216 was for T. I was a little surprised by his choice of yarn to be honest - he's 11 now and I'm finding it a bit hard these days to properly evaluate what he likes and dislikes...
This yarn was also in the March 2021 box but is another colourway of "Herbstmelodie": Laubgeflüster 11123 - which I only noticed when I knitted it and spotted that the pattern was actually the same as the previous pair. I wouldn't have guessed that at all - balled up the two colourways looked completely different.
That's it for now.
These 12 pairs of socks look like a lot but it's taken me roughly a year to make them (not counting some super thick slipper socks you can read about here).
Sometimes I'm a bit sad: I used to be able to churn out 2-3 pairs a week in my best times and occasionally I have a hard time accepting that this is no longer possible. But it is what it is and I'm grateful that I'm still able to knit at all. There are so many things I want to create at once and I wish I had several more pairs of arms to do everything at once. As it is I have to be patient and enjoy the process...
If you're wondering about the Opal boxes I keep mentioning: I get these as a gift from my wonderfully indulgent husband and I explain all about this subscription and how it works in this post.
I don't get paid or free products for mentioning them here.
Lots of love! xxx