When I first fell in love with the idea of sock knitting, I was drawn to all of the hand-painted (or mechanically made to look sort of like hand-painted, which was more within my budget) and self-striping yarns. Then I saw what could be done with cables and lace and my taste switched to solids.
Now that I'm in a mindless knitting while I watch TV with my Hubby phase, those self patterning yarns are starting to look pretty good again.
Somewhere along the line, I picked up a bunch of single skeins of yarn with the intention of making socks for the boys. Then I realized how bad I was at keeping track of toddler socks....and how utterly, completely destructive those boys are now that they're old enough to put on and take off their own socks... I'm not about to knit them socks.
So I decided to see if I could find second skeins of these same colors, use 40% off coupons, and make big girl socks. I spent about a month convincing myself that I should just do ankle socks, or anklets for teenage daughter's smaller feet.... and by the time I finally made it to Joanns to look for these colors the sock yarn shelf was bare. Every skein had just been put on clearance. I did find two of them at Fred Meyers for 20% off, which made them almost as cheap as the original plan. (And I found two skeins of a gorgeous sparkly pink that might become socks or a shawl.)
I've had this yarn in my stash for a few years, so the colorways could have been replaced by completely different colorways that are what they just did away with....or I could have missed my chance by a few hours or days. I am not going to try to find them online. I have lots and lots of sock yarn and once I use some of those solids I can use the leftovers for contrasting heels and toes.
But it's bugging me. If I hadn't waited that extra couple of weeks, would those colors have been there?
Weekly Stash Report
Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 52 1/2 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 229 1/4 yards
Net Added for 2013: 176 3/4 yards
Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 2250 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 800 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 9500 yards
Net Added for 2013: 7250 yards
To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.
Here is an idea for you: just use the beautiful self striping yarn for the cuff/ partial heel and do the foot itself in a matching solid color. This way you can stretch the nice yarn for a 'big' pair of socks. Happy knitting!
ReplyDeleteHave you checked out Raverly.com. I've been able to purchase yarn from other members including someone's yarn they had left over so I could finish a project.
ReplyDeleteHow you keep track of two different stashes is beyond me. It's all I can do to keep up with the fabric!
ReplyDeleteLearning to knit socks is one of my goals this year. I have accumulated a bunch of yarn and I really do not have a clue how many socks I can get out of each one! I may just decide to not worry about matching color and just enjoy having warm feet this winter!
ReplyDeleteIf they are 100g skeins you can get a decent pair out of each. If they are less than that mix them up for some lovely sock combinations. I like using these self patterning yarns with a contrasting plain colour for a unique pair of socks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by my blog and leaving a lovely comment.