This is not an April fools joke! The free Crackerjack Socks worksheet is available now in my Ravelry store.
These are toe-up with an afterthought heel and optional calf-shaping. As we go through the season, I’ll be posting updates on my own knitting, including some detailed photos and explanations when I get to the afterthought heel. In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Let the games begin!
I know, I know! Baseball’s Opening Day is next week, and I’ve promised you a worksheet for Crackerjack Socks. It’s coming, I promise! I’m just still tinkering with it a last little bit. But my plan is to make it available in the next couple of days. Because this is one of the busiest weeks of my year professionally, and it makes all kind of sense for me to be putting together a knitting worksheet on top of that, right?
In the meantime, I’ve been swatching:
Even on my usual size zero needles, these are somehow knitting up a bit loose. The garter ridge indicates where I changed needles from one brand to another (but the same size). My knitting did tighten up a bit once I found my favorite size zero dpns (Darn Pretty brand), but it’s still pretty loose.
I’ve decided to knit two rounds per game. I just like the way that looks. For comparison, here’s how it looks with one round per game:
More of a zigzag stripe. So instead, I’m going to do two rounds per game. In other words, more knee socks for me!
After completing five pairs of handspun handknit socks in a row (with a brief break to make a baby sweater), what do you suppose I made next?
If you guessed more handspun handknit socks, you’d be correct.
My Old Man’s son had a birthday in February, and it had been awhile since I made him anything (he believes that I now direct all my gift-making energy towards his girlfriend, and he may be right). Around the time I was completing my second pair of socks for myself, I realized that the yarn I had on the wheel at the moment would be perfect for socks for him.
This is Hello Yarn Targhee in “Bracken and Gorse,” the November 2014 fiber club, which I spun up as 280 yards of light worsted weight 2-ply. I had initially been thinking to weave with it, but my recent handspun sock obsession shifted my thinking.
As soon as I was done with my Munhacke Campfire Socks, I cast on:
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have to marvel again at how quickly worsted-ish socks grow:
They grow so fast!
Of course I used David’s Toe-Up Sock Cookbook, this time with no afterthought heel or anything unusual at all, other than throwing in my beloved 3×1 garter rib for the leg. If you want to do ribbing for a sock but want it to be as fast and easy as possible, go with garter rib. Though if you are like me, you will forget that’s what you were doing and accidentally switch to regular rib for the second sock. I did this for two of my last three pairs of garter rib socks.
But this pair, I got just right.
I will admit that, once I tried them on, I really kind of wanted to keep them for my own self.
They are so soft and cozy! But since I had just made two pairs for myself already, I managed to give them away as planned.
The recipient seemed pleased!
And the fit seemed pretty spot on.
I am very, very happy with how this pair turned out.
Handspun Bracken and Gorse Socks
After I was done, I still had roughly 90 yards of the yarn left. I briefly experimented with turning into more socks, striped with some Stonehedge Shepherd’s Wool:
But I wasn’t loving it, and I soon came up with another idea of something I want to save it for. More details on that another day, but – believe it or not – it’s not socks.
Immediately after finishing a pair of handspun knee-high-ish socks for myself, I cast on for another pair, using my handspun Hello Yarn Superwash BFL in Mochi, the first yarn I finished in 2014:
Hello Yarn Superwash BFL, “Mochi”
I adore those bright, warm colors, which I spun up as another chain-ply (205 yards light worsted, out of 4 ounces). When I originally spun this up, I was thinking mittens, but lately I’ve been all about the socks, so that’s what I went with.
I decided to do the toe on this pair differently:
Basically, I pretended I was making a wee top-down hat. While I love the figure-eight cast-on I usually use to start a pair of toe-up socks, this cast-on was the simplest, fastest start I’ve ever had. Plus, I love the look of the toes. And the fit is perfect:
sock toes
Next, I decided to do some arch shaping, to accommodate my high, narrow arch. I’ve done this once before and was very pleased with the results. That was a few years back, but fortunately I made some notes on my Ravelry page that helped me get an idea of what I wanted to do.
arch shaping
Because I’m in love with an afterthought heel, that’s what I did for these socks. I knitted in a line of waste yarn where I wanted the heel to go, and then I just kept knitting a tube. Good grief that’s such an easy and fast way to make a sock. I put some of the brown parts of the yarn aside for the contrast heel, and then just kept knitting my tube.
When I got to where I thought I would need it, I started some calf shaping. And then before I knew it, I was done with the first sock, and I finished off with some brown for the cuff. I cast on for the second sock immediately, and when I was done with both tubes, I went back and added in the heels with the brown yarn.
I took this project with me on a winter campout with a Boy Scout troop my son is thinking of joining. I’ve got to say, sitting outside in the snow, watching the sun set, and knitting a sock is an experience I’d never had before. And I liked it!
It was a cold and snowy weekend, and we spent most of the afternoon and evening outside, around a campfire. Knitting a sock with an afterthought heel was basically the perfect project for this, because I was just knitting a simple tube. I continued knitting on into the night, because I didn’t really need to see what I was doing.
The thing is, I had intended to release this as a free pattern. And sitting outside in the cold, in the snow, in the dark, with the scouts, I totally failed to make notes about what I was doing. And now, more than a month later, I don’t know if I can remember exactly what I did. So at some point, I will need to study the sock and/or make another pair.
The truth is, I want to tweak the heel just a bit (this is another hat/bullseye heel like in the pair I showed you yesterday). So knitting another pair is probably the way to go anyway.
In the meantime, I have very happy feet (though I do need to back and close up that little gap at the heel on the right sock). (Also, I know more now about how to prevent that from happening in the first place, so I want to incorporate that knowledge in my next pair.)
sock blocking
I should add that this pair is cat-approved as well.
As with the pair I showed you yesterday, I managed to magically make a mostly matching set of stripes from one sock to the other:
That comes, I think, from how I spun the yarn. I split it as evenly as I could, straight down the middle, and then spun each half from the same end, and then chain-plied. I ended up with one skein of 101 yards and one skein of 104 yards, as close a matching set as I have ever managed to spin.
Maybe no one but me is interested in making handspun, toe-up, hat-toe, arch-shaped, afterthought heel, hat-heel, knee-high-ish socks. But they are fun to knit and a delight to wear, I assure you!
I like winter a lot. Even really cold ones, like the one we just had. But that could be because I know the secret to staying warm and cozy. (My husband says my other secret is that I’m never the one who shovels the snow….)
Last month, I showed you the handspun socks I made for my menfolk for Christmas. As I made those socks for my guys in December, I promised myself a little reward if I could get them all done – the next pair of handspun socks would be for me.
So in January, I made good on my promise. For starters, I pulled out one of my loveliest yarns:
This is 240 yards of light worsted chain-plied Hello Yarn Finn in “Winter Storage” (September 2009 Fiber Club), a fiber I loved from the word “go.” When I first received this fiber, I knew I wanted to chain-ply it, but I had only been spinning for a few months at that point, and I didn’t feel very skilled in chain-plying. So I waited until I felt confident I could get it the way I wanted, which turned out to be a few years (I’m slow I guess). And at last, in 2013, I pulled out this fiber and managed to get it exactly the way I had in mind:
I knew from the beginning that this was destined for socks. What I didn’t know was that it was destined to become knee socks. What a happy surprise!
As usual, I used David’s Toe-Up Sock Cookbook, my go-to for handspun socks. With my worsted gauge and my narrow feet, not only did the socks knit up very quickly, but they turned out a lot taller than I’d anticipated.
It might be a bit of an overstatement to call them knee socks – they don’t actually go all the way to the knee. But they are pretty long socks, and very cozy, and extremely happy-making.
I’m still kind of in awe of how well the stripes matched up between the two socks. With handspun, I just assume that fraternal socks will be my default. But look at that matchy!
With this pair of socks, I did an afterthought heel, which is one of my favorite ways to make socks these days. It keeps the stripes of the sock continuous, and it allows me to more easily plan for a contrast heel. This time, I decided to do a heel I’ve never made before – a “hat” heel or “bulls-eye” heel. Basically, I decreased for the heel the same way I would if I were making a brim-up hat. And this might just be my new favorite thing:
I love the fit, and I love the look.
Y’all, this was the fastest, most fun pair of socks.
So here is my secret for a happy winter: handspun, toe-up, afterthought hat heel, knee-high-ish socks. Both the making and the wearing. If you can wear a pair while making more, even better.
Today in Ann Arbor, we are under a severe weather alert because of the wind chill. When I woke up this morning, it was 6 degrees below zero, with a windchill of -15. Baby, that’s COLD. Of course you know I am not complaining, because:
That means this yarn is also reporting for training:
Hazel Knits Artisan Sock
And by training, I mean swatching. I will soon be swatching for my next Crackerjack conceptual knitting project.
My yarn this time is Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, in “Nekkid,” “Nickel,” “Collegiate,” and “Carnelian.” To create this set, I actually bought a Seattle Seahawks-themed kit (this was right after the Super Bowl) – it had all the colors I needed minus the orange, in the smaller quantities I think I’ll need for a pair of socks. Then I bought a full skein of the orange to complete my set. Now I have a sweet small skein of “Hawkeye” (lime green) leftover for some other fun use. It’s been awhile since I’ve knit with Hazel Knits, and I’m really looking forward to it. The yarn has a great feel, and the hand-painted semi-solids are just perfect.
This time around, I’m going to be making… SOCKS. For anyone who has been following my Instagram feed, this should come as no surprise, as I am apparently all about knitting socks lately. It’s funny, I’ve never really considered myself a sock-knitter (though, in truth, I’ve knit my share of socks), but some kind of switch has been flipped in my brain, and all of a sudden, all I want to make it socks. Also, every time I go to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers play, I wish for some Tigers socks, and the souvenir shops have every imaginable thing for sale – except socks. So I’ll just make my own, with stripes keyed to the Tigers wins and losses. I am really excited about this project!
I’ll be putting together a worksheet in advance of Opening Day, for anyone who would like to play along, with your team colors. Spring is coming, y’all!
Yes, it’s more handspun socks. I had a goal in December – to make a pair of handspun socks for each of my three guys. I finished a pair for Tiny Dancer. I finished a pair for My Old Man. And I finished one sock for Little Buddha.
That’s right, just one sock. With the other two sock projects, I was using handspun that I already had in my stash. For Little Buddha, I had to acquire fiber in the colors I knew he would like and then hurry up and convert it into yarn. So, with four days left till Christmas, I spun this up:
This is “City Park” on Polwarth from a thing for string fiberworks. Polwarth wouldn’t be my first choice for socks, but these are so his colors and I couldn’t resist.
So I spun up the first two ounces and made a single sock.
And I washed it and blocked it and let it dry and then the next day was Christmas. So I gave him the sock.
The funny thing is, we have been calling him “One-Sock Wonder” since he was little, because ever since he was a toddler, he has had a tendency to go around the house in just one sock. At some point we realized it was because his twin brother was always yanking one of his socks off. Eventually, it just became his preference. And now at the age of 10 now, it’s just his thing. So I didn’t feel too bad about giving him just the one.
another blurry shot!
Actually, I gave him a sock and a half. The first two ounces made more than just the one sock, but I couldn’t quite eke out two whole socks from it.
At any rate, the day after Christmas, I packed up my wheel and hauled it the 800 miles to Georgia, so I could spin up the rest of the fiber on vacation. I accidentally spun it slightly bulkier than the first two ounces, so the cuff of the second sock fits a bit more loosely than the first. But whatever, I finally finished my Christmas knitting.
You can probably guess – but I’ll tell you anyway – I used David’s Toe-Up Sock Cookbook to make these. Once again, a great fit. (Though from the looks of it, he will be outgrowing these very soon!) (Which is fine, because they also fit me!)
It felt really good to have a thick cozy stack of socks to give my menfolk for Christmas.
And it feels even better to see the three of them actually wearing them. There is really no feeling in the world quite like seeing something you’ve made used and loved by someone else.
Squoosh!
My husband is one of the most low-maintenance people I’ve ever known. He almost never wants anything more than what he already has, and he rarely feels he needs anything either; he certainly never wants anyone to go to any trouble for him. As someone whose temperament is rather the opposite of this, I find this quality in him admirable. However, it makes gift-giving a huge challenge.
This includes gifts of the handknit variety. In a decade of knitting, I have made him the following: 2 hats, 1 sweater, and 1 vest. The end. That’s it. The only reason he let me make him two hats is that he lost the first one (sometime after I made the second one, he found the first one; he tried to give the second one away, since he didn’t feel he really needed it, but I wouldn’t let him). The sweater, early in my knitting career, was an unmitigated disaster, though he did try to make me feel better by wearing it once or twice.
I wanted to knit him something for Christmas, but the question was what. I didn’t have the time for a sweater, he doesn’t like mittens at all (they are not utilitarian enough for him – he wants basic, functional gloves), and he has less than zero interest in a pair of slippers. When he’s not wearing nice dress socks for work, he prefers to walk around the house barefoot (this is a thing with all three of the guys I live with, and I will never understand it). Regardless, I decided to knit him a pair of socks.
I selected a yarn I spun in 2013, one of the first on my then-new Cherry Matchless.
176 yards chain-plied Pigeonroof Fiber Studios Superwash Merino in “Calico.” I had intended to spin something finer than aran weight, but I was still getting used to spinning in double drive (something I still don’t feel super-comfortable with – I spin almost exclusively in scotch tension).
I dug this yummy yarn out of my stash, made a gauge swatch, and then used David’s Toe-Up Sock Cookbook, as I usually do, to determine all my sock numbers. I’ll tell you what, aran weight socks on size 5 needles with 36 stitches are fast. I decided to make them even faster by employing the same technique I used with my son’s socks – I made the cuff 3×1 garter rib. Five days later, BOOM, a pair of socks.
Here they are Christmas morning (hence the Christmas mess in the background). He opened them and immediately began wearing them.
I did that thing again, where every modeled shot I took was either blurry, or had poor lighting, or both.
But you get the idea.
I love, love, love the earthy tones of this yarn.
I was very, very happy with how these socks turned out. I have never gone wrong using David’s sock calculations. The fit of these is absolutely spot-on. And I’m thrilled with how they look.
And the best part is, he wears them all the time. They have been totally perfect as housesocks during this cold, cold winter. He totally loves them.
We were both a bit surprised by how much he loves these socks. All this time of knitting, and I could’ve been making him socks, but neither of us had any idea he would like them or wear them. So not long ago, I was enthusing over how, now that we know, I can make him handspun, handknit socks all the time. Perhaps I should have expected his low-maintenance response: “Why? I already have a pair.”
Last year, the first yarn off my wheel was this Hello Yarn Southdown, “A Bit of Zip and Sizzle”:
I chain-plied it with the goal of making socks. which is what I made with it in December:
The fiber was named “A Bit of Zip and Sizzle,” but I always inadvertently thought of it as “A Bit of Sip and Zizzle,” so that’s what I’m calling these socks.
I made these using David’s Toe-Up Sock Cookbook, which is my go-to for all handspun socks. You make a swatch, check your gauge, plug in all your numbers, and you’re ready to go. I made these with garter rib for the cuffs.
I’m so pleased with how these turned out. I love how they striped up and how well the stripes matched:
The Southdown (a fiber I hadn’t spun or knit before) is a yummy, sturdy, wooly wool. And worsted weight yarn for smallish feet makes for a very fast knit.
These socks actually only took half the yarn I made (2 ounces), so I’m thinking I might make a second pair.
In the meantime, I’m enjoying seeing them on these sweet feet.
earthchicknits 