Some of the socks were made from yarns I’d never used before, but some were made from my favourite sock yarns, King Cole Zig-Zag and Drops Fabel. All socks wear out eventually but these were all still fairly new, so that’s why I was so surprised.
I’ll have to figure out if I can mend them, but it looks like they wear out across the whole sole. Maybe I should change my sock pattern instead. I had no idea floors made that much of a difference, but the last time I lived in a house with a tile floor, grandma still did all the sock mending…
Cast on the pair of socks for Hubby’s November birthday. These were inspired by, I think, @tendstowardschaos socks of about a year ago maybe? Kroy sock yarn in Grey Brown Marl.
@Immaculata yes! It is warm and dry right now (it was raining torrents for days prior). It’s about 75°F/24°C here and tomorrow will be a little warmer. It goes in waves at this time of year. The ol’ “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute,” quote gets bandied about a lot at this time of year lol.
Update: have 10 rows of the heel flap done! Buuuuuuut-
These cats!!! We woke up this morning to find my beloved half-sock on the floor in Kidlet’s room. That is not where I left it. It has lost one knitting needle- so 1/3 of the stitches are now free-floating and the thing had been carried-by-cats from the closed yarn bag at the couch, through the livingroom into the dining room, through to the kitchen, through the kitchen and front hall, up the stairs into her room, around the cat tree in the middle of her room and stuck on it there dropped to the floor. The yarn ball is still in the living room. Hours of work potentially gone if i can’t recapture those stitches and have to rip the whole thing out and start again.
I collected the yarn all up and am having a coffee before I look closely to see if I can recapture those stitches.
AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
873
I feel your pain! My one cat is obsessed with yarn! I have to keep everything in a sealed ziplock bag or hide everything in a drawer. I have found balls of yarn going from the third level all the way down to the basement! I am lucky if I can catch it before he bites hunks out of the skein or chews up the yarn into smaller pieces!
I’m almost impressed by the lengths your cat went to capture that prey From a closed yarn bag through the whole house, carried upstairs and dropped from the cat tree.
I hope you can salvage it, what works for me sometimes is carefully frog a few rows stitch by stitch until you’re able to pick up all the stitches neatly. At least that’s better than frogging the whole sock.
I painstakingly crochet hooked the stitches while under my super bright craft light and wearing my magnifying glasses. Somehow I have 2 extra stitches now! But I think that I can work with it and keep going forward. There are 2 or 3 pulled snags on the inside that I need to smooth out but it looks salvageable. Phew!
That looks much better! In future, maybe put those caps on the needle, zip the sock in the yarn bag and store it in a locked cupboard every time you have to leave the room….
I always say I’m not buying “for stash” and I don’t usually do that, but somehow over the last couple of years a few balls of sock yarn made my way into my stash, and I have some leftovers from earlier projects, too. But now I’ve mended all the socks in my mending basket I don’t really need any new socks, and I’m not brave enough to knit a sweater from sock yarn. Definitely a first world problem! I guess I could start to look for baby knits from sock yarn.
3 Likes
AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
878
You can always put two yarns together to make a heavier weight. I have a lot of sock yarn that I have made hats and scarves using two held together. Also, I am making some knitted fish (yes, totally of not functional value, but I just think they are cute to put into a basket or tin!) and maybe some crochet flowers as well.
Some good ideas! I don’t have a ton, maybe 5-10 balls? Including leftovers. I guess what’s tempting about sock yarn is that you only need to purchase one skein, it’s usually affordable, and it’s a nice souvenir to buy from a small yarnshop that you stumble upon somewhere. And I do actually knit socks and wear them, so it doesn’t feel wasteful.
Sock yarn makes for nice accessories, too. The Musselburgh hat takes one skein, most fingerless mitts take less than a skein, plenty of cowls/scarves/shawlettes are one-skein projects, and holding it with another yarn (or two) makes for fun fabrics. I just finished knitting my fingering-weight cardigan - it wasn’t that bad and took just 250g (3/4-length sleeves). My next cardi for myself will be two fingering weight yarns held together with a strand of mohair, which is comparable to worsted weight.
I’m a little late to the sock party and a newbie on this site. But I thought I’d chime in about some socks I made last year. They are crocheted. I can’t remember for sure but I think I read a bunch of sock patterns and then improvised my own. I find crocheted socks very tricky to make so that they fit well without being too tight. I have quite a high arch which complicates things. Also, crocheted socks tend not to be as soft or smooth on the sole which can be difficult for the wearer who has fibromyalgia. On the positive side, I think crocheted socks tend to be longer wearing than knit ones–at least mine are. I will keep working on this challenge because it is so difficult to find actual wool socks these days.
From a closed yarn bag through the whole house, carried upstairs and dropped from the cat tree.
