Pattern: Snicket Socks by Sabine Riefler

Purpose: Christmas present for my sister

Techniques: cabling

Dates: January 2011 to December 2011

After seeing my first socks, my sister said she wanted some.  I took the opportunity to try a new technique.  I have never done any cabling before.  I found the pattern as a free download on Ravelry and I picked out yarn that matched her work uniform.

The cabling was tricky and I tore the socks out and restarted countless times. I ran into tension issues, errors, and twice they were coming out too small.  But all this re-doing was to my benefit.  By the second socks, I had no issues and I now understand the technique.

I ended up giving them to her for Christmas and she loved them.  It was so much fun seeing her excitement.

Pattern: Men’s Grey Socks by Lion Brand Yarn

Purpose: Christmas present for Rick

Dates: April 2010 to December 2010

My husband has cold feet, literally.  So, I thought I would knit him up some wool socks for Christmas.  I used a heavy 100% wool yarn and I knew they would be more of a ‘house sock’ than one he can wear with shoes.

I wanted to surprise him, so I generally worked on them during my lunch hour at work.  But as with all my other crafting, I am slow.  The holiday was quickly approaching and I wasn’t done yet.  That year, we decided to drive up to Tennessee for the holiday to spend it with family.  I arranged the seating in the car so I sat in the back with our daughter, right behind the driver’s seat so I could work on them without Rick seeing.  I even discussed it with the kids before hand to make sure they wouldn’t say anything.  I finished them a few hours before reaching Tennessee.  I was wrapping them late Christmas Eve.

He loved them and bragged for days that he has “handmade wool socks”

Pattern: Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley

Purpose: wear them

Dates: September 2009 to February 2010

These were my first try at making socks and my second knitting project.  I was also my first time using dpns.  Luckily, I didn’t know that socks are hard for beginners.  I picked up the yarn at Hobby Lobby and got the pattern off of Ravelry.  Because I didn’t know any better, I found the process easy.  Now, socks are one of my favorite things to knit.

I when I made these, my job was in a cold environment.  I wore them at least once a week until they were worn through.  They kept my feet toasty.