Over the past six months I made six pairs of socks. I get a bit obsessed with socks for a few months each year, and this year the obsession lasted longer than usual.
My sock binges always start the same way – I teach a series of sock knitting classes and think “socks are awesome – why don’t I knit more socks?”. Then I stalk Ravely for patterns, buy some sock yarn (even though I already have plenty) and knit three pair of socks in quick succession.
So making six pairs this year was quite an achievement.
First there was the pair of socks I always make while I teach the class. You can’t really teach sock knitting without knitting a pair of socks so that ones a bit of a no-brainer.
Then I volunteered to knit a pair of WWI army socks for the local Red Cross branch’s centenary. I’m always happy to help the Red Cross, plus it was great chance to combine gift knitting with charity knitting. These socks became a birthday present and were well received.
I used an original WWI pattern that was reprinted in a back issue of Yarn magazine. It turned out to be a really nice pattern but some of the details are sketchy so I wouldn’t recommend it for a first attempt at sock knitting, but I’ll definitely use it again.
I had difficulty finding authentic looking shade of khaki sock yarn. I ended up using Morris Empire 4ply in Olive Twist. It’s not sock yarn. It’s pure wool with a medium density twist so I’m slightly worried about durability, but the socks do feel very luxurious and the colour is perfect.
After I made the army socks, Geoff asked if I’d make a pair for him. I wanted to try out Schoppel Wolle Admiral 6 fach ombre – so I used the army sock pattern without making any adjustments.
This yarn is 6ply rather than 4ply weight but I didn’t adjust the needle size. They turned out great – I will definitely use this pattern again and the Schoppel Wolle is a hard-wearing sock yarn. It is only 50% wool, so it’s more durable and a bit less stretchy than most sock yarns which are usually 25% synthetic.
Three pair of socks had been made. I’d met my usual quota for “sock season”. But I kept going.
I decided to whip up another pair of birthday socks. I used “Hermione’s Everyday Sock” by Erica Leuder using some of my own hand dyed yarn in a marbled pink shade (soon to be listed in my shop). It’s a simple pattern that looks very impressive and it’s free to download from Ravelry. I highly recommend it.
Just as I cast off, my boss spied them and asked me to knit a pair for her. I’m not usually willing to knit for others but she’s going to Iceland and there might be a skein of lopi yarn or a bottle of duty-free gin in it for me.
For this pair I used Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock (in deep red, above). This is a yarn with a seriously firm twist so the yardage is shorter for the weight, but ample for a pair of adult socks. Fifth pair of socks done!
With five pairs of adult socks made (and none of the recipients have small feet), my wrists gave up. When I do a lot of circular or fair isle knitting my wrists become very sore so I need to take a week off knitting while they recover.
I still wasn’t finished with socks though. It’s mid December and I’ve started making some special Christmas socks.
I’ll give details and a free pattern in my next post, but for now all I’ll say is that each one takes an hour to complete and the recipients might try to eat them.
