I finished my third pair of socks today and I can't wait to start some more. I know I've got yarn for at least four pairs around the house. I'm waiting for some five inch 2.00 mm needles to arrive though - the eight inch ones I'm using are just too long.

I was intimidated by socks for so long - they seem so small and so fiddly, I didn't care for the look of the heel flaps I saw on all the patterns I found and for some reason cuff-down construction just didn't seem right to me (I still resist it - all of my socks have been toe-up so far).

I was sparked into sock knitting by Rob's birthday last year. I wanted to give him something hand made (it's what he'd specifically asked for) but also something useful. I'd already made him a hat and a scarf and he prefers leather gloves to wooly mittens so the next logical choice was a pair of socks to keep his feet a little warmer through our (especially) cold winter. I used the Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula from Knitty and worked up a gauge swatch and measured his feet. I learned the magic cast-on for toe up socks and how to do short rows and a kitchener rib cast-off for a nice stretchy finish. I knit them whenever I was somewhere he would not be and developed a habit of knitting in public and learned to talk and knit at the same time.

Two pairs of socks later and I'm percolating ideas for a sock specific knitting bag with my basic sock recipe (with numbers filled in for me and for Rob) printed on the inside lining and some sort of measuring tool attached so I never need to worry about having a tape around. Hmmm ... there should be somewhere to store a few darning needles too.

I'm thinking of getting a little more adventurous and not doing plain stocking stitch for the next couple of pairs. I found a pretty eyelet rib sock pattern on Ravelry that I'm going to adapt to work toe up for me - it's already the right number of stitches for my recipe. I think I'll do a simple two two rib for Rob's next pair; nice and snug so they don't slid around in his shoes.

Made to fit socks just feel so nice to wear.

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock in "Brights"
Yardage: way less than 1 skein
Needles: pair of 2.00 mm dpn's (full size straights just seemed enormous)

A belated "Happy Valentine's Day" to you all. I thought this would be a good time to share these. They were made for a Miss Leah (daughter of a friend) who joined the world on 30 July 2008.

They were a little fiddly to do (and involved much frogging) but only because I didn't read the instructions very well the first time and didn't bother to pay attention to what I was doing the second time. They are totally worth it anyway and I know I will be making them again sometime. They have got to be the most impossibly cute thing I have ever made and I can only imagine how they might look when actually on a baby.

I hope Miss Leah likes them.