Sock Challenge: June 2006 Archives
First of all, today we have hit a major milestone! We actually have some Family Sock Challenge finshers! Congrats to Maud (who completed 6 pairs of socks -- be sure to check out the Tilt socks she made for herself -- there's a link below -- they're gorgeous!) and Kristi (who also completed 6 pairs of socks -- you have to go click on the link for the Fancy Gentleman's Socks that she made for her sister) on meeting the challenge! Y'all are way out in front of me right now -- I still have two more pairs to go that are completely unstarted yet (although I did finish a pair for me, which I've decided counts just a little bit!)!
And there are still more socks. Michelle finished a pair for a good friend (yep, that counts! I have a few friends that are close enough to consider family) there's a link to the socks under the latest entry under her name. The cute kid picture alone is worth the click! Michelle seems to be surrounded by cute kids. Janna completed a pair for herself that is also part of the Six Sox Knit-A-Long in a very lovely Koigu colorway (as always, link below Janna's name) and is taking a little break before she gets back into the thick of sock knitting. And, last but not least, Carole is getting started on a new pair of socks for her sister-in-law -- and by the looks of it, also having some very fun fiber adventures!
As always, you can check out everyone's new (and old) socks with the links under their names. Those folks that are finished will have a ** ** around their names. It's really a lot of fun to see how much people can accomplish. I mean, hey, 71 socks in 6 months. That's almost 12 pairs a month. Certainly the world must be a better place for that!
Et Voila! Finished Opal Rainforest Tiger socks. This is just a modification of my "standard sock" pattern to create some extra calf shaping. Other than that, it has a standard Dutch heel and 4-pt decrease toe. The "special detail" in this sock is that whenever two black stitches overlapped, I purled the stitch instead of knit it, giving the sock a raised texture on the outside when a black stripe is formed. Because of all the shaping, this resulted in some stripes on the calves that I think do look very tiger stripe-ish. No attempt was made to make these socks identical, and, honestly, I'm not sure that there's a real obvious repeat region in this yarn.
These socks are my fifth pair of finished socks for my Family Sock Challenge (John got 2 pairs, my sister-in-law got a pair and my dad got a pair). How about that? Only two more pairs left to go. But I'll be finishing those Mermaid socks for myself before tackling any new pairs.
Happy Father's Day to everyone out there who is a great dad or has a great dad (like I do!). We're heading off to Ann Arbor to spend the weekend with my folks. I wish a good weekend to everyone else out there, too!
9 New pairs of socks have come into the world since my last report. Y'all are putting me to shame as I move slowly along on the second sock for my mom (now that the K2 P2 ribbing for the second sock is complete, I should be moving along more quickly).
This time saw socks from a whole bunch of folks. Carole finished up some beautiful lacy socks for a wonderful friend (yes, I think friends can count as family!), Heatherly finished a pair of cashmere socks for her mom (lucky mom!) , Julie was particularly busy this month and finished both a pair for her grandpa and a pair for her aunt, Michelle K finished up a colorful pair of socks for her mom, Nathalie squeezed in a pair for herself (knitting for yourself is definitely fair game, too, since I'm sure you're a part of your family), and Wendy finished up a very special pair of Trekking socks for her sister. She was working on these socks when her mother passed away due to MS.
To Wendy, on behalf of myself and the other sock challengers, I just want to say that I am deeply sorry for your loss. You're definitely in my thoughts right now. I wish you peace and good warm memories of your mother.
To everyone else, I'd like to mention that there is a way to help support MS research and make sure that scientists and doctors can do more work to make sure that this terrible disease affects fewer people in the future. A very excellent blogger and friend, Claudia, is going on a very big bike ride to raise money for the National MS Society. She's already raised over $10,000 with the help of many fiber folks out there and has set a new goal for $15,000. If you are looking for a good cause to support, this is an excellent one. Having worked in a lab myself, I can tell you that $10-$15K or more can make a big difference in a research project. Sometimes it only takes one simple experiment by just one person to create a breakthrough that can make someone's life better. Supporting the MS society is a great way to give researchers a chance to make those breakthroughs happen! So please consider clicking on over to Claudia's Blog and clicking on her fundraising button.
Want to check out all those new socks? Just click the links next to the dates for the finished projects.
