For the rest of you who have boxes, drawers, bags in the corners with clusters of other bags, and such whose contents look like this:
here at last is a solution to your clutter.
Eco Socks
This idea is not original. I saw some version or other of these socks elsewhere, thought it was a great idea, and tweaked it a little to suit my own quirks. This is a large pair, done on the 72 stitch cylinder.
I looked for a larger scrap and used it to make the hem top, heel and toe on both socks of the pair. This is what makes them a pair. Well, to me anyway ;o)
For the body of the leg and foot I knit 10 rows from one scrap and then change to another scrap. With 90 rows in the leg and 75 in the foot, I ended up using 17 x 2 = 34, plus the heel/toe yarn = 35 different yarns. What a great way to use up bits and pieces.
A medium pair needs only 27 yarns, but an XL pair I made used 39.
I didn't mix yarn types - these are all 4 ply sock yarn, 75% wool, 25% nylon.
These might be more interesting if I didn't use 10 rows every time - varied it a little - but working in 10's made it easy to not get lost!
Of course it is not necessary to have no repeats, if you don't happen to have 35 or so different yarns, but I bet most of you do.
I did do a little pre-knitting organizing - laid my scraps out in rows and did a bit of arranging to spread out the solids and patterns etc. And I lined up the bits into rows for each leg and foot - so then when I started to knit I didn't have to keep track of where I was.
I made a bunch of these in the spring and took them to the farmer's market on Earth Day. This pair is for me.
All the colour changes mean these socks take longer to make. But one of the beauties of the sock machine, my DPNs friends, is NO ENDS TO SEW IN. More on that another time.....
But for now, I contemplate what I can do with the left overs from left overs ;o)
8 comments:
There's an art to putting together scraps and you seem to have mastered it. Your socks are exciting where they could so easily look like the dog's breakfast. I'm impressed.
http://knitwiz.blogspot.com/2006/11/new-obsessions.html#links
Check out this link to my blog and see what I do with leftovers of leftovers. Mini Socks for Key chains. But they need to be done by hand unless you have a crank for 20 stitches.
You're a trip, Doug! I have a plastic drawer that looks just like that! I've been using it to make Frankenstein scarves and/or shoelaces. Same concept... Mary in Dallas
Cool looking.
Really lovely socks! I am soon to get around to using up my bits and pieces.
Oh gosh, I do wish I could get hold of one of those sock machines! You are doing amazing things on them. Lovely work, lovely blog, lovely you.
I'll be back!
Wow, I just happened upon your blog. You make great socks! I have a CSM packed away 'cause I couldn't get the hang of it (a Legare). Now I wonder if I should send it out to get up and running. What kind/style do you have and how did you get over the learning curve when you first started?
Have you seen Roxana's i-cord sock on the sock machine? Here's my result:
http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/2007/01/tofutsies-redux.html
Two ideas -- on its own, put it on a key-chain (without a blocker, unless you're good at cutting wood chips up...); or connect it to another one with a crochet-chain and call it "booksocks" -- a bookmark pair!
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