To The Finish Line

I made it to Christmas Eve and all 24 stripes on each of my advent socks. I was smart and worked ahead and added the heels a few days before Christmas. Now they just need cuffs!

The KirbyWirby Friends Advent is on the left. I had the teensiest ball of the teal contrast left. So I unwound it, found both ends and doubled it over to find the middle. I wanted to take what scraps I had left and split them evenly across the two socks. The stripes on this dyer are smaller therefore resulted in shorter socks

The CozyKnitter 2023 advent is on the right. These produced much taller socks and more normal for my sock drawer. I have plenty of the cream contrast so I don’t need to split the remainder.

Due to how I chose to construct these, I will have a ton of ends to weave in. I’ll have to muster up a glass of wine and plow through those when my cuffs are done….

Happy Knitting!!

2023 Advent Update

A little toasty update to my 2023 advent socks!

The pair on the left are my Cozy Knitter advent and are for sure coming out in a rainbow. Its beyond gorgeous but sometimes late in the evening the subtle fade is hard to detect. Still so happy with it and wouldn’t change a thing!

The pair on the right are my KirbyWirby advent and its Friends themed. These stripes are random but still cohesive. These stripes are smaller than the other advent and will result in shorter socks. And that’s okay, I’m fine with executing the dyers vision

I will try to sneak in one more update before Christmas on these. I’m so stoked to have two new socks for the season!

Advent Progress

This photo is a few days old but I wanted to show off this gorgeous advent yarn. I think this is day 5? I have also increased both sets of socks from my standard 68 stitches to 72 stiches as my gauge has tightened a bit this year.

The pair on the left is the 2023 KirbyWirby advent skein that is Friends themed. Each day comes with a quote from a character that lines up with the shade. I find them exceptionally fun and its nice to have a chuckle every evening.

The pair on the right is the 2023 Coxy Knitter advent skein. This one has slightly thicker stripes even though I am using the same stitch count and the same size needles. I am betting these will be taller socks. The back to back greens did get my old eyes. I knit these at night and it can be hard to see when the new color starts. But I LOVE the project they are making.

Happy Knitting!!

Ready To Advent….Again

I am getting this advent project in by the wire! I finished the toes of my Cozy Knitter 24 stripe advent socks. Now I just need to catch up to the days! I purchased a coordinating mini skein from the dyer for the toes and heels and this is a lovely shade of creamy white. I could also do the cuffs in it, but I don’t like my socks that tall. These will get pretty tall after 24 stripes!

I now have two sets of advent socks on the go for this holiday season. My other pair is from KirbyWirby and is Friends themed, which feels extra special this year given current events.

Can I keep up, lol?

Prepping For Advent

Advent season is almost upon on us and it’s time to prep. After several years of trying different advents I have found that the 24 stripe sock skeins work best for me. I LOVE the mini skein advents but I struggle to use them and I have still have two full sets sitting in my stash.

This is KirbyWirby’s 2023 advent self striping sock. She chose a Friends theme this year and each stripe comes with a coordinating quote from a Friends character. I also opted to buy the coordinating mini for toes and heels.

I am working toe up vanilla socks with an afterthought heel. I got two heels knit up and on my 9 inch circulars. Now come December 1st, I am ready to work the first stripe. The dyer was super organized and marked where my skeins started in the sequence. I am starting on Day 11 instead of Day 1. No matter to me as I will still work all 24 stripes.

I wound up the yarn into two balls so I can work both socks. The smaller ball has two full repeats in it. The larger one must have an extra repeat? We will see when we get there!

P.S……I have two sock advents this year! Whoops 🙂

FO Friday: 2023 GFOA Socks

My 2023 GFOA Socks are finally done and properly photographed!

Pattern: None, my own 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock with afterthought heel (Rav link)

Yarn: KirbyWirby Old Faithful Sock in Rose Apothecary Remix

Needles: US 1s

I used about 75 grams of sock yarn to make these. Which makes them roughly 340 yards worth of yarn. They come past my ankles and a decent amount up my calves. Should make nice boot socks!

These just turned out beautifully. I am super pleased with my neutral heel choice. It just fell so beautifully inside the rainbow progression. It’s still crazy hot here in Kansas so I don’t have much a chance to wear them yet but I can’t wait!

MudPunch Always Gets Me

I once again was wooed by the siren song that is my email newsletters. I get the MudPunch email newsletter and I just couldn’t resist her shop.

I have really been feeling the sock mojo here lately so some self-striping felt just right. Do I have a three whole storage bags of sock yarn? Yes I do. Did I still buy this? Yes I did and I don’t regret it.

The pinky brown skein is outside my normal color zone but I’m excited to see how it works up. The yellow and blue skein is 1,000% in my zone as those are my high school alma mater colors and my current employer’s color scheme. I think these will go into the stash for a minute but I foresee them hitting the needles yet this year.

Happy Stashing!!

Two Rainbow Tubes

I managed to finish both tubes this week on my 2023 GFOA socks!

They matched almost perfectly! My second cuff might be a hair short but its close enough. I have decided I am not going to use the rainbow yarn to do the heels. I have some plain grey leftovers that should work nicely.

I just need to dig out my DPNs so I can pick up stitches and cut in the afterthought heel. Happy Knitting!!

Diversity Training

I volunteer on a local non-profit board and we are incorporating DEAI (diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion) into our framework. That included mandatory training after work hours. Of course I brought knitting! And then I got the giggles when I realize my project was rainbow and on “theme”.

This is my second tube for my 2023 GFOA socks and I’m SUPER close to the cuff on this. I got two whole stripes done in a 60 minute meeting. I do have to keep checking my first sock to make sure I am putting the increases in the same place for the second sock. It has been invigorating to feel connected back to knitting again!

Happy Knitting!!