The day it occured to me to knit him socks, I felt like such moron. How could I have not thought of this months ago? All that agonising over what to get him and I never thought to knit for him?What kind of obsessed knitter am I?So the rush began.
The obvious choice was the use to Knitpicks Essential he'd chosen himself when his brother was in the States and I'd put an order in. He chose 'Lumberjack' which we both laughed about at the time. Such a manly sounding yarn!
And here they are. Finally. On his feet, where now that he's a total convert to knitted socks, I imagine they'll spend a lot of their existence.
Pattern: Gentleman's Plain Winter Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. Love this book. Love this pattern. I made them for him earlier this year and they are the best fit for him. The long cuff and the Dutch heel are a winning combination.Yarn: Knitpicks Essential in Lumberjack. It was my first time using Knitpicks and I was quite pleasantly surprised.
I quite like the seam down the back of the socks but it's a bugger to keep straight. I'm not sure it really has much purpose.
Sticks: Knitpicks Harmony DPNs 2.5mm. I think that's my preferred size for manly socks now.Modifications: None at all. Pattern as written. Might have stretched the toe a little bit. I think I may convert to the Dutch heel for all socks soon. I just like it very much. The little boomerang shape on the bottom is a pleasure to make and Sean finds them really comfortable.
And these are the other pair I made. This time from Patonyle, which was a gift from Kgirl. I love it!
The second pair of socks was a project I started about 3 weeks before the big day. I declared to RoseRed I'd give it my best and she said that if I managed two pairs for Sean's 40th when she'd not managed to finish one pair for her husby's 40th, I'd show her up.
Consider yourself shown up RoseRed!
The second pair flew off the needles. Admittedly that was because I decided to just knit them in front of him and hope he never asked about them.
He did.
And I confessed they were for him. The upside of that was that he thought they were the only gift socks coming his way so he got a surprise on the day. I could knit them with gay abandon after that, no more having to pretend that no no, I didn't mind if he caught the bus with me some mornings, while seething that I was losing valuable stealth knitting time.
The second pair of socks was a project I started about 3 weeks before the big day. I declared to RoseRed I'd give it my best and she said that if I managed two pairs for Sean's 40th when she'd not managed to finish one pair for her husby's 40th, I'd show her up.
Consider yourself shown up RoseRed!
The second pair flew off the needles. Admittedly that was because I decided to just knit them in front of him and hope he never asked about them.
He did.
And I confessed they were for him. The upside of that was that he thought they were the only gift socks coming his way so he got a surprise on the day. I could knit them with gay abandon after that, no more having to pretend that no no, I didn't mind if he caught the bus with me some mornings, while seething that I was losing valuable stealth knitting time.
These are the same as the Lumberjack socks but knit on 2.75mm needles, which for reasons that complete escape me now, seemed like a wise choice at the time. It's not. They're a little floppy and I think the Lumberjack socks fit much better. But they're still highly wearable.
I think I will pass on knitting plain manly socks for a while - they do go on.
I think I will pass on knitting plain manly socks for a while - they do go on. Anyway, happy birthday Sean. I hope you love wearing them as much as I loved making them.
Bells
Bells
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