Monday, December 18, 2017

Rag-socks



Thank you for coming for the day 18, thank you for the comments, xx.

-10ºC (14F) outside, warm +21ºC (70F) and cozy inside. Parts of the house are warmer than that. I am writing this down here in case some of you wonder how we can cope up here in these cold temperatures. We have thick insulation on the walls, the windows are mostly three layers. If the power lines hold, life is good.
I finished the first of the Christmas socks. I do love the striping, although to be honest, I did not like so much knitting it. Stopping to wrap the yarns around each other every time in the beginning of the row, became quite a task and I was tempted to cast-on for a new pair instead of knitting the second to match this. I will try my best to make a pair… there is the beginning, once the first rows are done, the rest should be easier.
Earlier when I was looking for yarns for these Christmas socks, I came across all (not all, just some) of the odd balls of the leftover sock yarns. I know many are either crocheting or knitting blankets with left-overs, but I don’t feel tempted.
Instead I thought first that I would make an advent calendar for the next year with these leftovers, divide each one into two balls, do some math, how many rows are needed daily to knit advent socks with them, but… next Christmas seems so far away now, that I am not sure.
The second thought was to cast on for a pair of rag-socks and every time, I finish one planned pair, I would knit the rest of the yarn into these rag-socks. No need to think ahead, just my usual sock recipe and what ever color happens to be there that needs to be knit away.
I was talking about this with my friend and she suggested that I could knit the cuffs and heels and maybe toes with the same colors to make the socks more matching, but let the colors in between be whatever is available. It is a good thought.  It would not necessarily need to be the cuffs or heels that would be the same, it could be some other part as well, maybe similar stripes around the ankles. Dark blue, black, dark grey – they all would work as contrast colors. I have some yarns that I regret a little bit for buying, maybe I could bury them too into these rag-socks. I realize, I could just keep these odd balls and mend with them later if needed, but I did love most of these yarns and would like to use them until the very end.
I will cast-on for a pair of rag-socks. It might turn out to be something inspiring. Have strict parameters: socks with some matching parts but all the freedom in the world to play with yarns (colors, stripes, stitch patterns) in between. Sounds like a good idea, but it might turn out to be quite the opposite.
I wonder if this is just an excuse to drop the striped sock… The deal was to knit the left overs… that is once the actual pair is done.

Wool with you,
Lene

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful Christmas socks! I too have so many little leftover balls of sock yarn and have been thinking of what I could do with them. One thought was hand warmers just because they are fast to make. I love your idea of one thing matching on them to make them a set. I am looking forward to seeing your progress on these "almost twins".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love, love, love this Christmas sock! From an outsider's aesthetic, definitely worth the annoyances created by the striping.

    As for the rag sock. I am wondering what it would look like to split the yarn balls in two, but knit them from opposite ends--so the beginning cuff of one is in the same yarn as the toe of the other.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm loving your series of posts, Lene. Thank you! I find your striped sock very appealing, too. Have you considered a spiral design using several scrap yarns at a time? One of the colors could be a unifying solid or near solid color like navy, black, or gray that could also be used for toe/heel, cuff. Here are some ideas I found because I want to do this, too!:

    http://russetlodgeknits.blogspot.com/2013/05/simplified-stashbuster-spirals.html
    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stash-buster-spiral-socks/people
    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scrap-yarn-sock-advent-calendar
    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sock-opus-2
    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/happyscrappysocks
    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/illuminate-your-sock-yarn-lanterns (not actually socks, but fun)

    I got a little carried away LOL. Oh, and could your kittens use little socks???

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the idea of rag socks, especially because you are likely to do a fantastic job and then I can use your inspiration and tips to start a pair of my own. I have MANY small balls of leftover sock yarn!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ellen in Connecticut22:27

    I save my leftovers for mending the socks later on.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ellen in Connecticut22:33

    And thank you for the search window! Guess what I searched first?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I vote for knitting whatever makes you most happy this Christmas week. Sometimes it is more fun for me to play with leftovers then to open a new ball of yarn. Warm socks are warm socks.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have just passed on 400 grams of little balls of sock wool to my mother. She seems willing to make use of all the leftovers. I always imagine that I will do something with all those balls but instead they just sit there. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with, maybe that will inspire me.

    ReplyDelete