#ShowOffYourWoollySocks2021 - week one round up

Hello Socktober! A month to celebrate hand-knitted socks. This month I will be wearing hand-knitted socks every day, and sharing them on my grid over on Instagram. I have a drawer full of amazing socks that are too lovely to hide in my shoes, so I will be celebrating them. If you feel the same, share away - tag me (@VikkiBirdDesigns) and use the hashtag #ShowOffYourWoollySocks2021

Missed the first week? Here's your chance to catch up!

 

Day 1

 

#ShowOffYourWoollySocks2021 is here!!!

Starting strong today with one of my favourite pairs of socks. They started off as a zebra-striped sock snake (yarn by Paintbox Yarns), and I was going to add bright pink heels, toes and cuffs, but had a last-minute change of plan and added pink, yellow and blue accents to make… liquorice allsort socks!!! I love them, in fact I love them enough to have darned them when I caught them on a loose carpet staple.

Day 2

 

A bit later in the day than yesterday, because it’s a Saturday, and while I’ve been up for a while, I’ve only just switched out of my pyjamas. It does mean the light is better for today’s sock photo though 😂

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Today I’m sharing one of my designs: Hiding in the Bamboo. These socks have an all-over bamboo texture, and are named in honour of my kids’ favourite game at a local gardens. Any day when you get to jump out and startle your parents is a good day out as far as my kids are concerned. The socks are knitted in Milla Mia sock yarn* - a nice basic wool/nylon blend that is wearing really well.

 

Want to get the pattern? You can find all purchase options here. 

 

Day 3

 

Ooh, birthday cake socks 🎂 don’t mind if I do! These socks are *very* pink, and pink isn’t usually my thing, but I love these because they’re so cheerful, and they make me think of birthday cake! And of friends - the yarn was from a secret Santa with my knitting group, and they’re the greatest set of supporters I could ever ask for! So thank you Rachel, Lynda, Jo, Sam, Lynn, Lucy and Clare! I hope I haven’t missed anyone…

Yarn is King Cole ZigZag; pattern is Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley.

Day 4

 

 Today, every time I look down at my feet, I will think ‘duck feet’ 🦆 !

These socks were my first ever sock pattern! The Lynda socks are named after my lovely friend Lynda, who encouraged me to knit my first socks. If you want to make your own, you can find the pattern on Ravelry,** PayHip and LoveCrafts.*

Day 5

 

A *very* wet day today, so I’ve gone for some of my coziest socks. They’re knitted in Felici by Knit Picks, which I had heard about for many years before I finally got to try some. It has lived up to all my expectations, somehow making socks that are both durable and soft. This colourway is called Playhouse, and I knitted these last summer, while driving round the country to visit people in a slightly surreal socially distanced way.

I made these socks with afterthought heels, partly to preserve the stripes across the top of the foot, partly to make them even better as a travel project.

Day 6

 

Another pair of Felici socks today. This was my first Felici project, and my first ever afterthought heels. It’s always a bit nerve racking cutting into your knitting, but worth it for those bullseye heels!

Day 7

 

My Little Pine Cone Socks in action! This is the first wear for my latest pattern, and the love how autumnal they look! 🍂 

Want to make your own? You can find all the buying options here.

 

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Fancy knitting yourself some new socks in October: THERE'S A KAL! #soywskal2021 is an excuse to knit yourself a new pair of socks to wear on October 31st. You can use a WIP, or cast on something new. The theme for this year’s KAL is ‘try something new’. What you try is up to you: cables, lace, toe-up, top-down, a new-to-you heel, the possibilities are endless... I’ll be knitting my socks from a sock blank (I have a stash of them, but have always found them a little bit intimidating!). Remember, these socks are *for you* - no gift knitting in this KAL! Just post your progress on IG with the hashtag #soywskal2021 to take part.

 

Want to see how mine are going? Here's my progress so far. I'm enjoying knitting them, but am a loose knitter, so am having to conentrate hard to keep my tension consistent.

 

 

*Affiliate link. 

**Ravelry link. May affect people with photosensitivity, proceed with caution. 

#YarnFriendsRock 2021 - Days 19-25

Last month I'm joined in the #YarnFriendsRock challenge, hosted by @unicornpuffsandrainbows, @brightbag and @sewing_the_seeds_of_love Every day in September, I posted a picture to my intarsia Instagram account (@VikkiBirdDesigns_Intarsia) around a theme. Don't worry if you missed it, here are my posts for Days 19-25.

Want to see more of my intarsia work? You can check out my intarsia patterns on Ravelry* and PayHip.

Day 19: Sunday share

Oops, missed a day! I’ve had a flurry of sales of my novelty hats recently. I would love to make an intarsia blanket or jumper for every friend that has a new baby, but there are only so many hours in the day. When I run out of time to make a big baby gift, I turn to my Apple for Teacher and Harvest’s Bounty patterns for a speedy gift. Got a little extra time and you’re knitting for a family that likes matchy matchy gifts? Both patterns come in sizes from baby to adult!

 

Day 20: On my hook

Confession: I am not much of a crocheter. I can crochet, and enjoy it when I do, but tend to save crochet for blankets. If you find me with a crochet hook, it’ll most often be to save a dropped stitch! If you haven’t tried that before, you really should - it makes fixing dropped stitches much easier!

If you head over to Instagram, you can see a video I made of me working a dropped stitch back to the needles using a crochet hook.

 

Day 21: Flash your stash

I have a huge yarn stash. Even though I spent a whole day sorting it a few weeks ago and donated several kilos to Knit For Peace… When I buy yarn, I tend to buy it with a project in mind, but apparently I think I can get through far more projects than I actually do! My solution now is to work a lot of my intarsia designs from a limited palette of colours, so I only need to add the odd ball of yarn here and there. This Daisy CHain Blanket is being made from yellow and cream from stash, with the addition of some gorgeous Stylecraft Special Aran in Proper Purple, which is my absolute favourite colour.

 

Day 22: All in the pink

I’m pretty sure there is a shade of pink for everyone. My favourite is the raspberry end - a nice strong jewel tone. The shade of pink I used in my ‘Love’ cushion is my absolute favourite - there is a lot to love in this design!

What’s your favourite shade of pink?

Day 23: Rainbow love

You might have gathered from the photos I’ve shared so far this month that I love a good rainbow! I designed my Rainbow Unicorn Cushion in my very favourite rainbow yarn @WestYorkshireSpinners Aire Valley Aran - a self-striping aran weight yarn that comes in a gorgeous bright rainbow. Unfortunately West Yorkshire Spinners have discontinued the yarn, which makes me sad. I do have a stash of the yarn, and plans to make a jumper with striped sleeves, but would love it if West Yorkshire Spinners started making this yarn again!

Day 24: Flat lay

Reality check: I love a flat lay because… I have three kids and the house is always messy! I do my flat lays on a photo board resting on a surface, which magically hides the mess! I’ve also been known to use a throw to hide the mess before taking photos. One day I’ll be tidy, and flat lays won’t become quite so essential.

Today's flat lay is a pot of stitch markers, and my makeshift photo board is a sheet of orange card. I took this photo a while ago, and am pretty certain the tin has lost its lid, and the stitch markers have been distributed across projects (and the house).

Day 25: Granny squares forever

Ok, totally going to cheat for today’s post! When I was little, I loved looking through my mum’s jar of buttons, finding ones that match, and ones that didn’t, and making patterns with them. Now my mum is a granny, and I designed this blanket thinking about my mum and those jars of buttons.

*Ravelry link. May affect people with photosensitivity. Proceed with caution.

Little Pine Cone Socks - the perfect sock project for Socktober

Fancy a new project that's perfect for autumn? Why not try my Little Pine Cone Socks? They're knitted toe-up with a lace pattern that is simple enough to memorise, but engaging enough to maintain your interest.

Autumn conjures up all sorts of things in my mind: back to school, collecting conkers, finally be able to wear my handknitted socks again, the rich colours of the autumn leaves on the trees, and crunching through the leaves once they have fallen. My Little Pine Cone Socks are inspired by all of those things, and feature a lace pattern that reminds me of the pine cones that litter a forest floor. The samples are knitted in gorgeous autumn shades to evoke a walk in the woods just as the leaves are falling. 

The Little Pine Cone Socks are knitted from the toe up and I’ve included two options for knitting the heel: A gusset and heel flap construction, shaped with short rows, and with a slipped-stitch pattern on the heel flap for reinforcement. The gusset length is affected by your row/round gauge, so a table of gauge-dependent lengths is included to help you achieve the perfect fit; A German Short Row Heel.

Instructions for the Little Pine Cone pattern are given in both chart and written formats. The lace pattern is knitted into the top of the foot and the front of the leg. The back of the leg is knitted in plain stocking stitch.

The pattern is needle-neutral, and the socks can be knitted using DPNs, short circulars, or long circulars using the magic loop technique.

Pick up your copy now!

Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-pine-cone-socks*

PayHip: https://payhip.com/b/VLNja

Use the code PINE to get 15% off until 11.59pm BST, Friday 8th October 2021.

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Want all the details? Here you go!

Sizes

A (B, C // D, E, F // G, H)

Finished sock foot circumferences: 11 (13.5, 16 // 18, 20.5, 23 // 25.5, 27.5) cm [4.5 (5.5, 6.25 // 7.25, 8.25, 9.25 // 10, 11) in] designed to fit with 2.5 cm (1 in) negative ease. These are the sizes of the finished socks; for the best fit, choose a size that is approximately 2.5 cm (1 in) smaller than your foot circumference.

Prefer to choose a size by stitch count? Sizes A (B, C // D, E, F // G, H) correspond to stitch counts of 38 (46, 54 // 62, 70, 78 // 86, 94) sts.

Tension

34 sts x 48 rnds = 10 cm (4 in) in stocking stitch in the rnd on 2.5 mm (US 1.5) needles, or size needed to obtain correct gauge.

Notes are included to adapt the pattern to your rnd gauge.

Yarn

100 (150, 210 // 260, 330, 410 // 490, 590) m [110 (170, 230 // 290, 370, 450 // 540, 650) yds] of 4-ply sock yarn.

Note that these numbers are for guidance only as the lengths of both the legs and the feet are variable to fit. The short row heel version will use less yarn than the heel flap and gusset version. See pattern notes for further guidance on yarn choice.

I would recommend using a dedicated sock yarn that is tightly plied wool and has some nylon content for durability.

Needles

2.5 mm (US 1.5) DPNs; or a 2.5 mm (US 1.5) circular needle at least 80 cm (32 in) in length; or a 2.5 mm (US 1.5) 20 cm (9 in) circular needle

Notions

Stitch markers x 6; Tapestry needle

Pattern notes

The instructions are for the smallest size, with larger sizes in parentheses: A (B, C // D, E, F // G, H).

If you have a limited quantity of yarn and you want to ensure you do not run out of yarn for the second sock, first wind the yarn into two balls of equal mass, and stop knitting your first sock when your first ball is about to run out.

Sample details

Orange socks: Needle and Fred 4-ply fingering [4 ply; 425 m (464 yds) per 100 g skein; 75% Blue Faced Leicester, 25% nylon] in the colourway Marma-Lady and size E for a UK women’s size 7 foot [foot length 25 cm (9.75 in)]. The sample socks used 298 m (326 yds) of yarn and have a heel flap and gusset. Yarn support was provided by Needle and Fred; you can find all their yarns on their website: https://needleandfred.shop/

Brown socks: West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4-ply [4 ply; 400 m (425 yds) per 100 g ball; 75% wool, 25% nylon] in the colourway 630 Nutmeg and size E for a UK women’s size 10 foot [foot length 27.5 cm (10.75 in)]. The sample socks used 324 m (354 yds) of yarn and have a German Short Row heel.

I have included instructions for both a heel flap and gusset and a German Short Row heel. It is totally up to you which you choose to do, but if you have a high instep, a heel flap and gusset provides a better fit as there is more space in the heel.

A version of this pattern was included in Knit Now magazine, issue 120.

This pattern was tech edited by Jo Torr.

#VikkiBirdDesigns

#LittlePineConeSocks

Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-pine-cone-socks*

PayHip: https://payhip.com/b/VLNja

Use the code PINE to get 15% off until 11.59pm BST, Friday 8th October 2021.

*Ravelry link, may affect people with photosensitivity. Proceed with caution.