#showoffyourwoollysocks2020 Days 22-30

In November I hosted #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 over on Instagram, where I showed off my woolly socks every day in November. I've already published run downs of days 1-7, 8-14 and 15-21 here on my blog, but I never got round to sharing days 22-30, so here they are!

Days 22-30

Day 22: My socks for Day 22 are my Spinnaker Socks; they’re DK weight, and lovely and warm. I used Ripples Crafts Yarn Doubly Reliable Sock, and it was a delight to work with, and is now a delight to wear! The pattern is available on Ravelry,* LoveCrafts and PayHip. 

Day 23: Day 23's socks are beautful and subtle (so not really my usual thing!). I designed these Seed Head Socks in the summer, and really enjoyed the whole process. They use dipped stitches to create little seed heads, and are a lot of fun to knit. You can find the pattern on Ravelry,* PayHip and LoveCrafts.

Day 24: Today's socks are the Bobby Socks, which is one of my designs. They have a super-cute, fun frill, and a lovely delicate lace pattern. You can find the pattern on Ravelry,* LoveCrafts and PayHip.

 

Day 25: These socks are knitted in Knit Picks Felici (it’s my favourite yarn, you might have gathered that by now!) in the colourway Spring Blooms. The pattern is Non-Euclidean by Sarah Jordan* and it features a heel that doesn’t need you to pick up any stitches.

Day 26: How early is too early for Christmas socks? I wear these socks all year, but on Day 26 I was wearing them with one of my favourite Christmas jumpers. I was using the greenery as a backdrop for some pattern photos and thought I might make the most of it being out! Yarn is by Unbelievawool.

Day 27: In my effort to spend less time on my phone on Day 27, I accidentally forgot to take a photo of my socks! Here’s a late night shot as I headed to bed. These are my Amy socks, named after my a fabulous friend. They’re knitted toe up, and have a simple lace pattern that is really intuitive. You can find the pattern in my PayHip, LoveCrafts and Ravelry* stores.

 

Day 28: The frost was heavy on the 28th, so my plans to wear lacy socks were put to one side and I went for these festive sport weight ones instead. The yarn is from Austria or Germany and was gifted to me by the lovely @jinyknits. They make me think of cookies and Christmas preparation.

 

Day 29: Another pair of cosy socks for the penultimate day of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 These are sport weight, and were made from a colourblocked yarn by @knitcrate I snipped the yarn into its constituent colours and striped it, using the smallest portion for the toes, heels and cast off. These socks have silk in, which is a great alternative to nylon as it adds strength.

 

Day 30: For the FINAL day of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020, I wore the socks I knitted in November for the #soywskal2020. I knitted them in yarn by Stripey Cat Yarns, a fabulous UK-based dyer who specialises in stripey yarn. They are made in high-twist Bluefaced Leicester, and were so much fun to knit!

That's it for the 2020 edition of Show Off Your Woolly Socks. Wht do you think? Should I bring it back next year?

*Ravelry link: may cause issues for people with photosensitivity, proceed with caution.

#showoffyourwoollysocks2020 Days 15-21

Have you heard of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020? Over on Instagram, I’m showing off my woolly socks every day in November, and I’d love you to join in too! Simply take a photo of the handknitted socks you're wearing every day in November and tell me all about them! Use the hashtag #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 and tag me (@vikkibirddesigns) so I can see them. I cannot wait to have a little tour through your sock drawer!

This year, I'm hosting a knitalong, so that over the course of November, we can all knit a new pair of socks together and wear them on November 30th! The KAL is taking place on Instagram using the hashtag #SOYWSKAL2020, and works in progress will also be allowed if that increases your chances of having a finished pair of socks by November 30th.

Not on Instagram? I’m sharing a summary of my woolly socks once a week on my blog (vikkibirddesigns.com), and I'll have two threads open in my Ravelry group (Ravelry link - may cause issues for users with photosensitivity; proceed with caution): one for the KAL and one for you to show off your socks of the day.

Week 3: Days 15-21

Day 15: These are my Hiding in the Bamboo socks. They’re a great vanilla plus pattern - perfect as a second pair of socks, or for when you want a mindless knit. They have a ribbed structure, which means they fit really nicely. If you want to knit your own pair, you can find the pattern in my PayHip, Ravelry* and LoveCrafts stores.

Day 16: Here are my socks for Day 16: these are some of my most cheerful socks, I adore them, even if they are a little worn. They’re made in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in the colourway Rum Paradise. WYS make lots of self-striping colourways. The yarn is great value, and wears really well. I use WYS for most of my gift-socks as it withstands being machine-washed really well.

Day 17: I’ve had to take today’s sock photos on a slightly different background to usual because I wanted to show off the heels as well, and that’s a bit tricky while sat on the sofa or lying on the bed, so this photo was taken sat cross-legged on the floor! Today’s socks are the inverse of yesterday’s - plain main colour, stripey heels, toes and cuffs. I love that they look so different.

Day 18: Today’s Socks of the Day for Day 18 are another pair from the ‘knitted in 2020’ pile. These are my Contorto socks,* and they’re knitted from the toe-up, with lots of little cables to keep them interesting. I used to knit all my socks toe-up, but now knit roughly half top down, mostly because I can do the cast on for top-down without looking, which works better while watching tv!

Day 19: Today’s socks are one of my favourite pairs. They’re knitted in Paintbox Yarns Sock in the colourway Summer Vacation. I love them as they make me think of Doctor Who! This colourway is discontinued as far as I can tell, but the yarn is wearing really well, so I’d definitely use it again (the original ball was gifted to me by LoveCrafts, but I have bought balls since. If you fancy trying the yarn for yourself, while also sending a few pennies my way, why not use my affiliate link: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/paintbox-yarns-socks?utm_medium=affiliate&a_aid=34bc6779

Day 20: Day 20’s socks are an early pair. My mum bought me this yarn the first Christmas after I started knitting socks and I love it. She wasn’t sure how much I needed, so bought me two balls and the other is still in my stash (it’s an Arne and Carlos Regia, a great workhorse yarn). If you look closely, you might see that these two socks are slightly different colours - one ended up in a wash with the school jumpers a couple of weeks ago, so has a slight red tinge! I do try and wash my socks in pairs, but once in a while one escapes! I reckon they’ll go back to matching again within a wash or two.

Day 21: I was been feeling a bit under the weather over the weekend, so on Saturday my socks only went on at gone 2pm, and only because I *had* to go out. They’re good socks though, Knit Picks Felici in the colourway Time Traveller. Lovely and soft, a hug for my feet. Saturday’s knitting involved my mitred square blanket - nothing complex for an easy day!

*Ravelry link: may cause issues for people with photosensitivity, proceed with caution.

#showoffyourwoollysocks2020 Days 8-14

Have you heard of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020? Over on Instagram, I’m showing off my woolly socks every day in November, and I’d love you to join in too! Simply take a photo of the handknitted socks you're wearing every day in November and tell me all about them! Use the hashtag #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 and tag me (@vikkibirddesigns) so I can see them. I cannot wait to have a little tour through your sock drawer!

This year, I'm hosting a knitalong, so that over the course of November, we can all knit a new pair of socks together and wear them on November 30th! The KAL is taking place on Instagram using the hashtag #SOYWSKAL2020, and works in progress will also be allowed if that increases your chances of having a finished pair of socks by November 30th.

Not on Instagram? I’m sharing a summary of my woolly socks once a week on my blog (vikkibirddesigns.com), and I'll have two threads open in my Ravelry group (Ravelry link - may cause issues for users with photosensitivity; proceed with caution): one for the KAL and one for you to show off your socks of the day.

Week 2: Days 8-14

Day 8: My socks for Day 8 are a relatively new addition to my sock drawer as I knitted them for #marathonsockkal2020 They’re knitted in Knit Picks Felici in the colourway Playhouse. I love Felici yarn, and before it was available in the UK, it was something of a mythical sock yarn - soft, stripey, affordable. It definitely lives up to the hype, and I now have quite a collection of Felici sock yarn, and socks made from it!

 

 

Day 9: This pair of socks is made from more Knit Picks Felici, this time in the colourway Captain Nero. I’ve shared these quite a few times and they always get a good reception. These socks were a little Heath Robinson: I was adding a heel while out and about, and failed to take scissors or a sewing needle out with me. I somehow got by doing Kitchener stitch with my needles, and using a fork to saw through the yarn end. What’s your most creative knitting improvisation?

Day 10: The socks for day 10 of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 are gorgeously festive, and yes, I do wear them all year 😊 They’re knitted toe up with a heel flap and gusset, with a contrast heel. The yarn was West Yorkshire Spinners first Christmas special yarn and I love it. I wasn’t sure about it in the ball, but they are some of my favourite socks! I accidentally knitted the second sock on a different size needle to the first, and only noticed somewhere near the heel, so had to start again. It happens - fortunately you can always unravel and start again. Would you have unwound and reknitted, or just shrugged and had a second sock that wasn’t quite the same? I’m more likely to leave a mistake in now than 5 years ago - mistakes add character!

Day 11: Day 11’s socks were bright socks for a gloomy morning. These socks are knitted in an Easter sock set from Cuddlebums Yarn. I love how the yarn knitted as micro-stripes. This pair is another with a Fish Lips Kiss heel, which is a great choice if you’re a bit short on yarn - I knitted these toe-up two at a time to maximise yarn usage - there’s nothing worse than running out of yarn halfway through the second toe! I keep going back to Cuddlebums Yarn - I love her rainbows and general bright colour sense. Do you have a dyer you keep going back to?

Day 12: My socks for Day 12 of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 is one of my designs! These are the Effie socks, inspired by midnight feasts in vintage boarding school books – I wore them all day with the frills peeping over the tops of my boots. You can find the pattern for these (and many other socks!) on PayHip, Ravelry and LoveCrafts. 

Day 13: Friday was stripes and spots day at school, so for day 13 of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020, I opted for some stripey socks. These socks were knitted in the spring, in some yarn that I was saving for the season - the colourway is called 'Daoffodils', and I think the colours are perfect.⁠ The yarn is by Strawberry Fields Yarns, and the contrast is some ancient yarn from Artesano.

Day 14: These socks are my advent socks from a few years ago. Every day in the run up to Christmas, I opened a little package of yarn and added another stripe to my socks. I will confess that I was very selective about which yarns I added, because I don’t personally like crazy clashing socks. I’m glad I was selective because I love these and wear them a lot. I chose West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in Milk Bottle for the main colour, which is a great neutral.

#soywskal2020: Knit yourself some socks this November!

Did you know that as part of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 I’m also hosting the #soywskal2020?

Over the course of November, I would love everyone to knit a new pair of socks for themselves and wear them on November 30th! This is a gift-knitting free zone! The KAL is taking place on Instagram using the hashtag #soywskal2020, and works in progress are allowed if that increases your chances of having a finished pair of socks by November 30th – this is your chance to finish that pair of socks that started earlier in the year, then put to one side and forgot about!

Want to see my socks for the KAL? Here you go!

 

I bought this sock yarn earlier in the year. It’s dyed by Stripey Cat Yarns, who sells a fabulous array of hand-dyed self-striping yarns. This yarn is inspired by the cover of the UK edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the colours are beautifully autumnal. The yarn is 100% Blue Faced Leicester, a base that is new to me, and feels amazing. Blue Faced Leicester is a long-staple yarn, which resists wear well and is perfect for socks, even without nylon. The high twist increases the wear-resistance, so these socks should wear really well! 

I was hoping to have completed the heel by now, and while I haven’t knitted the heel yet, I’m not far off, so I think I should be able to finish the first sock by the middle of the month, which will put me on course for having a whole pair of socks by the end of November. I’m planning a Fish Lips Kiss Heel, which is worked without a gusset, so maintains the stripe sequence perfectly.

Project bag made by me; Self-isolation knitting club patch by ErisApple

What are you knitting for #soywskal2020? Are you finishing a WIP, or did you cast on something new? I would love to see your sock progress!

#showoffyourwoollysocks2020 Days 1-7

Have you heard of #showoffyourwoollysocks2020? Over on Instagram, I’m showing off my woolly socks every day in November, and I’d love you to join in too! Simply take a photo of the handknitted socks you're wearing every day in November and tell me all about them! Use the hashtag #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 and tag me (@vikkibirddesigns) so I can see them. I cannot wait to have a little tour through your sock drawer!

This year, I'm hosting a knitalong, so that over the course of November, we can all knit a new pair of socks together and wear them on November 30th! The KAL is taking place on Instagram using the hashtag #SOYWSKAL2020, and works in progress will also be allowed if that increases your chances of having a finished pair of socks by November 30th.

Not on Instagram? I’m sharing a summary of my woolly socks once a week on my blog (vikkibirddesigns.com), and I'll have two threads open in my Ravelry group (Ravelry link - may cause issues for users with photosensitivity; proceed with caution): one for the KAL and one for you to show off your socks of the day.

Week 1: Days 1-7

Day 1: The first pair of socks for #showoffyourwoollysocks are knitted in Knit Picks Felici in the colourway Countess, which I hoarded for ages as purple is my favourite colour. They’re a straightforward top-down vanilla sock with a heel flap and gusset, which is my favourite type of top-down construction.

Day 2: These are a fine example of Christmas socks for everyday wear! The yarn is by Unbelievawool and was from a Christmas yarn club box. The colours are pretty muted (but may well have been brighter when I knitted them), but have a festive air. I cast these on on an October 1st for a #festivesockalong, but got distracted and finished them in the January! This happens a lot! The socks have a Fish Lips Kiss, which is a nice neat short row heel. It’s a good heel to choose if you’re tight on yarn, but isn’t so good if you have very high insteps. The yarn isn’t self-striping, it has micro stripes caused by the repeat length of the variegated yarn - a short row type heel helps preserve that.

 

Day 3: Day 3’s socks are accidentally inspired by Liquorice Allsorts! I knitted them as a sock tube and planned to add pink heels, toes and cuffs, but then happened to be eating the sweets while working on the tube and realised that Liquorice Allsorts colours would be much more fun! The main yarn is by Paintbox Yarns (gifted - if you want some, it’s Paintbox Yarns Socks*); the heels, toes and cuffs are miscellaneous scraps.

 

Day 4: My socks for Day 4 are lovely cheerful ones that make me think of cake. I knitted them using Kate Atherley’s free Basic Ribbed Socks pattern during #lotsofsockskal a couple of years ago. They’re knitted in King Cole Zig Zag, which is one of my favourite basic sock yarns - it’s cheap and cheerful and wears really well. It also feels nice and plump. The yarn was gifted to me by my friend Rachel for a knitting secret Santa (clearly not a very secret one!). So many connections in one little pair of socks.

 

Day 5: The fifth pair of socks for the month is my Siren Song Socks. These are one of my designs, and that little slipped stitch cable shows up so well against any yarn background. The yarn is by Phileas Yarns, and I bought it Joeli’s yarn retreat in Manchester a few years ago, where I met lots of fabulous knitting friends. If you want to knit your own pair, you can find the pattern in my Ravelry and PayHip stores.

 

Day 6: My socks for Day 6 are possibly one of my favourite pairs: they are knitted in Opal with glitter. I love how sparkly they are! I bought the yarn at the British Wool Show and knitted it while on my way to EYF in 2018. I knitted further than I planned, and had to do afterthought heels as it was that or pull the knitting back!

 

Day 7: These beauties were a prototype for my Siren Song Socks - they’re knitted in yarn from Unbelievawool and it contains cashmere, so is super cosy. The yarn was very much a ‘golden skein’ - one I kept hold of for ages before knitting it up because I was afraid I wouldn’t do it justice. I love these socks, so I think I did!

*Affiliate link.

#showoffyourwoollysocks2020

My celebration of woolly socks, #showoffyourwoollysocks, is back for 2020!

Do you have socks that you knitted and showed off once online, but since then they've been hidden in your shoes? Well, #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 is a chance to show them off! Every day in November, I'll be sharing a photo of the socks I'm wearing on my Instagram (@vikkibirddesigns), and telling you the story behind them, and I would love you to join in too. Simply take a photo of the handknitted socks you're wearing every day in November and tell me all about them! Use the hashtag #showoffyourwoollysocks2020 and tag me so I can see them. I cannot wait to have a little tour through your sock drawer!

This year, I'm going to host a knitalong, so that over the course of November, we can all knit a new pair of socks together and wear them on November 30th! The KAL will take place on Instagram using the hashtag #SOYWSKAL2020, and works in progress will also be allowed if that increases your chances of having a finished pair of socks by November 30th.

Not on Instagram? I'll be sharing a summary of my woolly socks once a week on my blog (vikkibirddesigns.com), and I'll have two threads open in my Ravelry group (Ravelry link - may cause issues for users with photosensitivity; proceed with caution): one for the KAL and one for you to show off your socks of the day.

I can't wait to start showing off my socks, and hope you are just as excited!

Do you want to knit a pair of socks from one of my patterns for the KAL? From now until November 7th, all the sock patterns in my Ravelry store will have 20% off with the code SHOWOFF You can find all my sock patterns here: https://www.ravelry.com/bundles/sock-patterns-179 (Ravelry link - may cause issues for users with photosensitivity; proceed with caution).