Black dress socks for DH

Recipient: DH
Designer: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Pattern: Yarn Harlot's Sock Recipe
Source: Knitting Rules!
Due: Unknown - hoping to complete by December 31, 2006
Colours: #1331, Black
Yarn: Scheepjes Invicta Extra, 75% wool/25% nylon, sock weight
Completed status: Given for anniversary on February 17, 2007
Notes: Originally for DH's boss
Pictures:

2007-Feb-20

Wrapped these up and gave 'em to my husband for our anniversary on Saturday - he LOVED them! He said they were really cosy and comfy and he liked how the ribbing extended into the feet. He's so great to knit for.

2006-Dec-30

Woohoo! They're done!

2006-Dec-26

I have decided to forget about making socks for DH's boss this past summer. As grateful as I am for everything he did for my husband, the proper time to give him a gift was during the summer, when DH was working for him, or immediately after that. Unfortunately, what with the anti-knitting stint I went through in my first trimester, plus some knitting panic associated with unchangeable deadlines (i.e. imminent births of babies who don't keep hanging around in the womb indefinitely just because you haven't finished their knitting), and then a focus on the Christmas knitting, this project never got very far off the ground. Therefore, I decided to use the yarn for socks for DH instead. Wednesday night at the Lettuce Knit SnB, I got started, did a bit of work on Thursday, and have been snatching moments since then to increase my progress (tough with DH hanging around). Here's where I am so far:


You can't tell because the sock is black, but I've continued the ribbing from the leg down the top of the foot. The heel and sole are in plain stocking stitch.

I'm hoping to get the pair done before midnight on the 31st so that I can have one last kick at the can for 200Sox.

2006-Jul-14

I figured a good antidote to endless 14-row lace edging repeats would be...endless stocking stitch in the round. Yeah! Way to change it up!

Surprisingly, though, it does make for a bit of a nice change. Not an exciting change, of course, but nice. I finished the toe a few days ago and this morning got started on the rest of the foot. Because DH found the other socks I'd made from the same yarn perfectly snug, and because he feels his boss' foot is a bit wider than his own, I increased to 76 stitches instead of my usual 72 for a man's sock size, and will probably increase after the heel to 76 or 80 stitches. It's coming along very nicely so far.

2006-Jul-7

This is a project that I keep forgetting to mention that I've started. Last weekend I got my husband to try on the black socks that I made for my dad to see how they fit. (Yes, they are for my dad, but I made them the same size as I would for DH because they both seem to have the same length of foot and girth of calf.) DH said they were more snug than most of the other socks I'd knitted for him (likely because the yarn is a little thinner than all the other sock yarn I've used). So, based on that, I've decided to make the foot girth for these socks a little wider than usual to accommodate his boss' feet, and to make the legs quite a bit wider because DH thinks the guy's calves are probably much bigger than his own. Subsequently, I cast on for the first sock, but so far have done precious little else. However, I can at least say that the project is officially started.

2006-Jun-15

At last! DH came home on Tuesday night and announced that he'd been able to covertly compare his shoes to his boss' shoes. He estimates that his boss' shoes are 1" to 1.5" longer than his own. This means, presumably, that his boss' feet are 11.5" to 12" long, since DH's feet are 10.5". DH also guesses that his boss' feet are a bit wider than his own, but this shouldn't be a big issue since DH says the socks I make for him have some give around the feet.

So I'm going to make socks the same girth as I always do for DH, but make the feet about 11.75" long. That should work. Yay!

The only disadvantage of this is that DH still won't have any handknitted dress socks. I'll have to get more black sock yarn and rectify that problem. But first things first.

Another interesting tidbit DH brought home from work was that his boss' wife is an avid knitter! Lace, cables, colourwork, the whole gamut. She also has a knitting machine. Hey, maybe she reads knitting blogs, too. So...Barbara? If you're reading this? Please don't spill the beans to your husband that I'm making him some socks. However, if you can give me more precise measurements of his feet, I would greatly appreciate it.

2006-Apr-30

I originally was planning these as gift socks for DH, but tonight I had a stunningly good idea. DH has recently been hired for a part-time job, after almost a year and a half of being totally unemployed. (Yeah. It's been fun. Not.) He is working at a custom golf club shop, doing the stuff he's been training for over the last year or so, getting three days a week, getting fantastic experience, loving the work, getting paid weekly without taxes being taken off (DH's net income this year probably won't be enough to have to pay taxes, so we get all the money in our pockets right away instead of having to wait until next spring for a refund). The list goes on. One of the nicest things is that his boss is really flexible. He knows it takes DH a while to get there and back (it's in Caledon), and that DH has to pick up DD from daycare at a certain time, and he's totally cool about when DH comes and goes.

I'm thinking, y'know, this man deserves some socks.

DH said he'd think about that idea. He wasn't sure if his boss would like such a gift. I pointed out that anyone who doesn't like handknitted socks has no soul. :)

The tough part will be figuring out how long to make the feet. DH will be on the hook for that. No pressure.

2006-Apr-17

These are still for DH. I'm not sure what occasion I'll give them to him for, but they're definitely for DH.

2006-Apr-12

Alright, and while I was at it, I added two more balls of the black Scheepjes Invicta Extra black sock yarn to the shopping cart, for DH. He needs more socks. It'll come out of our clothes budget.

(Yes, I am starting to pack on the socks, but I still think my new-found continental knitting skills can pull me out of the fire.)