#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.