A pair of my own; a sock knitter's despair

A pair of my own

I've made these Heelless Sleeping Socks several times now as gifts, but I've never knit a pair of my own. Last Christmas, Mom J gave me something very high on my sock-knitting wish list: Claudia's Handpainted in the Red Wagon colorway. I hoarded this yarn, but then I thought how I wanted a pair of sleeping socks and how this yarn would be perfect for the pattern. So I finally made a pair of my own. I only had to use one skein of the yarn. So I could use the other skein for another pair or for something else.

A sock knitter's despair

The reason why I love sleeping with my Jaywalkers: too snug, they don't come off at night.

It's true: once you start wearing hand-knit socks, it's hard to go back to all that elastic and seaming that's found in manufactured socks. So I travel with my hand-knit socks. So far, I've never lost a pair.

When I went to New Mexico earlier this month, I brought these beauties along. For some reason, the hotel staff thought I was only staying for one night. So when the housekeeper came to freshen my room, she changed my sheets. My socks had come off during the night and were embedded somewhere in those sheets.

I left my address and phone number with the hotel, but I don't think I'll ever be seeing those socks again. I'm very sad. Those socks were knit toe-up and were in my top three favorite socks for how they fit. The good news is that Coley, who dyed up that yarn for me, sent me a huge skein of it, and there's enough for another pair.

I don't know if I'll travel with my hand-knit socks again. I don't think I could stomach another loss.

Oh, geez!

I can't believe I've been MIA from this blog for almost a month. When things were normal, I enjoyed posting about twice a week. Then things got a bit hectic, and I tried to squeeze in a post a week. But once a month? That's not good. That's not good at all.

And to think: I have all these FOs to show!

First, I want to share with you a custom order I did for Crafty Pancakes and Gaby. They wanted the blue of my something blue yarn, white, and a chocolate brown. I was happy to dye it up for them; I named the colorway bluebird. I like it so much that I plan to dye it up as a regular colorway. It's what you're seeing in the photo above.

Manly socks



These were made maybe back in January. They were made with Opal Hundertwassen using a 3x1 rib over 72 stitches with size 1 dpns. I used a Sherman heel and then decreased to 68 stitches.

Anklets for mom



These anklets were made for mother also some time in January. They were made with Trekking 126 with a 2x2 rib over 64 stitches on size 0 dpns. I mother loved my Trekking 126 socks, and I wanted to give these to her so she too could enjoy the prettiness that is Trekking 126. My mom, oh joy, prefers anklets.

I have so many new colorways planned. I'm not going to wholesale my yarns anymore. I am fulfilling two orders with stores that placed orders a long time ago. I'll let you all know when my yarn is available in these stores. For now, please continue to visit my etsy shop, where I post new yarns every so often. I find it's easier for me to keep up when I stock a little at a time. I hope you will continue to support my indie-dyeing efforts. I know that those of us who don't wholesale aren't as sexy as the dyers who do, but I like knowing who my customers are. I'm also getting very bad about delivering wholesale orders in a timely fashion. So, to stay on top of things and sane, it's going to be etsy only.