My Knitting Life · My Sock Philosophy

Recent Sock Knitting

I’ve been knitting a pair of socks and have a few other projects on my needles. I haven’t done a lot of knitting because I just came off a hard (and wonderful and final!) year of teaching! Suffice it to say that students are wonderful but the climate in education, sadly, is all about test scores. Enough of that!

When the governor’s wife came to town!

I love to buy a mini skein to use for cuff, heel, and toe. The mini-skein is called Emma’s Yarn Sock Smalls, Drops of Jupiter. The main color is Miss Babs Estrellita, Jubilee, an exclusive color for Simply Socks Yarn Company. I made my own simple pattern, 64 stitches, a simple cable down the leg, classic flap heel, and modified rib for the lower part of the sock (no sense in feeling those cable lumps in my shoes!)

Oh, and we are moving. To Kansas City. Here in Salt Lake City, we are on our “second tour of duty in Utah,” and it’s time to move closer to family. We have our reason: she’s two and grand! I’m hoping (as I always do) that I will now have more time to blog—haha.

Finally, I’ve used a few new tools, some needles and some yarn holders. The needles are from Addi called Crasy Snake. Yes, I spelled it correctly! They are shaped and not straight, meant to battle fatigue while knitting. I think my left hand liked the shape, but since I’m a thrower as opposed to a picker, my right hand was just ok with having to regrab after every stitch.
As for the yarn holders, I ordered more! These come in different sizes and are snug on center-pull balls, keeping the yarn from tangling. I love these!

That’s all for now! Stay sane and keep knitting. These two things go together, sanity and knitting!

Free Sock Patterns

Longfellow Socks

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I’m so tired of this happening at the end of dude socks:

“This” being that I run out of yarn as I’m ready to knit the toe of the second sock. This is not the first odd toe that I’ve knit.  I only started running out of yarn after the guys I knit for cried out for longer socks!  AND I’m even using a yarn that has generous yardage (Cascade Heritage Quatro–437 yards/400 meters, color way: Brown Bear).

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So being smarter than the average brown bear, I came up with a pattern that uses different yarns for a short cuff, heel, and toe. I’m calling this free sock pattern Longfellow Socks.

Oh, and I always have my knitting with me, even at (close to) the top of Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I couldn’t justify risking my life and ending my knitting career in order to hold on to chains for the last part of the hike! This park is magnificent! You should come visit!

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70 Stitch Sock Pattern (Longfellow)


Happy knitting, wherever you may be! And here’s to longer socks!