My 2025 Advent Socks Take 2 are progressing nicely. I really haven’t knit many socks these past two years and I forget how fast they go.
I am not quite halfway but the stripes are progressing nicely. I do notice that without the flecks/contrast added that this stockinette is working up at firmer gauge. Not always a bad thing for sock, especially when someone else will wash/wear them. I’m hoping with the upcoming weekend that I can get pretty far.
A former coworker got a really cool new big kid job and I wanted to celebrate. She is always jealous of my handknits and is a genuinely kind human. So I decided to make some socks for her.
I had some Urth Uneek Sock from my 2023 Christmas yarn haul hanging out in my stash. Not going to lie that I chose this because it was already split for socks and wound up. Saved me those steps and I could get right to the knitting.
She has a size 7 foot, which is smaller than me, so I cast on 60 stitches for these. I haven’t decided if I am going to make an afterthought heel or do a heel flap and gusset. I think the latter would fit her better? It’s kind of nerve wracking making socks for someone else’s foot in so long, lol.
I still had the other half of my 2025 Cozy Knitter Advent left. And I have typically quickly cast this on instead of putting it back in stash. Figured why not do that again this year.
I am making this set specifically for a friend who is having a rough go this holiday season. Her feet are just slightly smaller than mine so I cast on 64 stitches instead of my 68. I used the last drabs of the contrast skein from the advent kit to do the toes. I just knit until that sparkly white ended and then started the stripes.
I’m hoping to crank through these fairly quickly to get her a TLC box mailed with her Christmas gifts and some extra care items for her.
I am loving the flecks again this year. I kinda wish I had done them mid stripe like the Cozy Knitter did on her instead of at the color transition. Perhaps something I can do in the next pair. I will have a second set of 24 stripes after these socks are finished.
I am a little worried about the heels. I am pretty sure the accent flecks are going to burn a ton of yarn and I won’t have enough to do the heels. I have some grey sock yarn in stash that would work but I can’t lay hands on the white Cascade sock yarn that should be somewhere….
It’s December 1st and that means it’s time to cast on advent socks!
True to my habits, I grabbed the Cozy Knitter 24 stripe advent for 2025. I prepped both toes with the contrast skein and I’m ready to start the first stripe later today. I do plan to use the contrast yarn to add flecks in between color changes.
This may mean I won’t be able to do the heels in the contrast. And that is a future Rachelle problem 😝
PB, like most girls her age, is obsessed with K-Pop Demon Hunters. And Stacey of Must Stash Yarn released a self striping colorway on brand. I had to buy it.
I haven’t knit a sock in AGES but I am thinking of some sock tubes for PB to rock around the house. Her feet are still growing so I am hesitant to do socks with heels that she will outgrow.
I am leaving this skein out on my desk to see if PB peer pressure and proximity would spur some sock knitting mojo….
Pattern: My own 68 stitch “recipe” for toe up vanilla socks and an afterthought heel
Yarn: 2024 Advent Stripe from The Cozy Knitter Bliss base and one mini skein of Red Door Fibers Heels & Toes in Hint of Grey
Needles: US 1s
With the added contrast heels, toes and cuffs and then the little flecks, this project racked up 351 yards of yarn. And I was pleasantly surprised that they fit was good. The alterations I made to the afterthought heel worked and I didn’t make these too large.
Really pleased with how matched these came out. And it feels just satisfying to use up every bit of the Advent skein and contrast AND a bonus mini skein. I love marking my yarn “completely used up” in Ravelry. The floats do give the socks a texture on the inside and they may not make the best boot socks. Perhaps socks for being cozy around the house?
I will definitely work this fleck again as I like how it add some visual interest. Happy Knitting!!
I might regret this. Picking up stitches with so little fabric on the leg portion…I dropped a stitch at the corner and it ran 5 rows before I noticed. ON BOTH SOCKS, sigh. I secured both with a lobster claw stitch marker and I will ladder back up.
Unfortunately I don’t have any loose ends on the inside of those respective corners to be able to secure that stitch. Which means I will have to grab some waste yarn and tack those stitches securely. But hey…..don’t my heels look great!
Oh! And I took out about 5 rows of my “recipe” afterthought heel and the work measures 9 inches from toe to heel which matches my foot. We will give it the ultimate test when I get to try these on!
I am NOT ripping these back. As I have a high instep I normally work extra plain rows in my heel. I think I will just take out 4-5 of those plain rows to reduce the length of fabric that gets to the back of my heel. This could totally fail, but let’s see!
I installed a life line exactly where I put the heels in the first socks. And I didn’t account for the for the extra fabric that those flecks make up. My advent yarn went that many stitches farther so my foot is half to three quarters of inch longer than I would normally do.
I just finished stripe 15 so I am on the downhill half of these socks. Lord help me!
I am doing my best to work these in tandem to keep the mojo going on this project. Keeping the tension even and workable between flecks takes some concentration. Not all of my flecks are coming out the same size as I work. I think that is just due to my newbie status at colorwork. It should block our right?