Category: Knitting
The End of 2025 Socks…December
We have a LOT of sock yarn! I made a decision a few years ago to knit one pair of socks per month. I have got a system in place now that allows me to be successful at it. I have already started my January 2026 sock so, I am off and running for the
A Pair of Socks for October 2025
Once in awhile when you knit a pair of socks, all the colours just work. I am creating socks out of wool that is already in our stash and so, sometimes I am putting together a variety of colours to make a pair that might not always perfectly match. This happens because you look at
September 2025 – One Pair of Socks
I have knit one pair of socks every month for almost 3 years. It makes me happy. I love a good deadline – I can follow them, adjust them, get there faster and sometimes, put them off. I love a good list and I get a great dopamine hit by crossing off what I have
Socks, Socks and More Socks
Every month is a new pair of socks. I think I have enough yarn to continue to knit socks until I am at least 100 years old and so, I will keep knitting socks.
Blue and Green…Summer Socks
I continue to create one pair of socks each month. I always can find someone who needs a nice pair of socks – great for winter, hiking and for cozying up with a good book on a cold winter’s night.
Striped Socks
If you can believe it, I still have a huge bin a sock yarn so, I keep knitting away – combining colours, self-striping yarn and using my tried-and-true pattern (mostly located in my head now). I often sit on the front porch in the morning and due my required number of rows (I plan out
Ode to My Socks by Pablo Neruda
Maru Mori brought mea pairof sockswhich she knitted herselfwith her sheepherder’s hands,two socks as softas rabbits.I slipped my feetinto themas though intotwocasesknittedwith threads oftwilightand goatskin.Violent socks,my feet weretwo fish madeof wool,two long sharkssea-blue, shotthroughby one golden thread,two immense blackbirds,two cannons:my feetwere honoredin this waybytheseheavenlysocks.They wereso handsomefor the first timemy feet seemed to meunacceptablelike two decrepitfiremen,
A Scarf and a Coat
I spent several months over the winter creating a scarf to match my “coat of many colours”. It was a challenging pattern and I completed 4 rows each day in order to get it completed – and it was hundreds of rows. I am including the pattern if you want to give it a try.
Keep Calm and Knit Some Socks…
Here are 10 ways to stay calm: 1. Deep Breathing: Inhale deeply and slowly, focusing on the sensation of the air filling your lungs. This can help to calm your nervous system. 2. Mindfulness: Pay attention to the present moment without judgment. This can help you to become more aware of your thoughts and feelings and how they are
My Flock of Easter Sheep
As the Easter season approached, I set a goal to knit 25 sheep. I have one more to go (and may knit a few more) before Good Friday. We have also baked countless loaves of paska. All these Easter treats will be distributed to friends and neighbours in order to celebrate Easter. These little lambs
March 2025 – A Pair of Socks
When I knit socks, I practice “Tangential Immersion” . The definition of “Tangential Immersion” is doing 2 tedious tasks simultaneously to keep your brain occupied. Tedious to me means a task that you do “day after day” that takes a long time (it can be dull or tiresome or monotonous), although, I read and knit
The Little Lamb
What are the symbols of spring? Daffodils and spring lambs, bunnies and sunshine and green grass. Everything is NEW and we can start again – in our gardens and even in our lives. It is a time to re-commit to how you spend your time and how you make a difference. We can commit to
Socks for 2025
Have you found your passion? Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them. – Napolean Bonaparte Our true passions are selfish. – Stendhal Intense passion is always a little selfish. Passion has to be
January 2025 SOCKS
I have completed my first pair of socks for 2025. I was very surprised when I started knitting the second pair of socks and the foot did not stripe. You will see from the pictures that the yarn must have not been dyed properly. I don’t care but, it is a reminder that we can
December 2024 Socks
My final socks of 2024 do not match. I made them two-tone and then I forgot to change colours at the heel and so they became VERY fraternal twins. I guess that is what happens when you are busy getting ready for the Holidays. I think the lesson here is that you can take anything
Socks, Socks and MORE Socks…
Another month and another pair of hand knit socks. Why do I knit socks? 1. Socks are a VERY portable project. I can stuff them in my purse or bag and knit them on a plane, in the car, at a coffee shop, or while chatting after dinner. They don’t require a huge ball of
The “30 Minutes a Day” Sock
What do you spend 30 minutes doing each day? What are 30 things you can do in 30 minutes? Write snail mail or a card to send to a friendFold laundry and put it awayRead a few chapters of a bookDo a spot clean of your house and put things away out of placeDo a
Socks from September 2024
I continue to knit one pair of socks every month. Sometimes, I save them and then find random times to give them out to people but, this month, I kept the in-house and gave them to my husband, Charles. The yarn for these was VERY thin and so, they will fit nicely inside shoes for
Even Kids deserve a new pair of socks…
This pattern is great for kids from 5-8 years old. I made these for my friend, Mason who is 5 and he wore them to bed when he first got them. They were a big hit. Kids love handmade things and this young man is very appreciative of receiving gifts so it is fun to
Socks and Sock Yarn…
I am often complimented on the combination of colours for my socks. I tell everyone it is the yarn and I laugh but, in fact it really is. Sock yarn is created by machine to created patterns and stripes as you knit the socks. It requires you to be flexible and make socks that are
A Pair of Socks – June 2024
A quick history of socks… http://wabi-sabi.caKnitting socks goes back at least to the 11th century. The oldest surviving knitted item is a pair of colourwork socks from Egypt, and while no earlier items have yet been discovered, the complexity of both the sock construction and the colourwork suggests that the craft was developed much earlier (because, after all, if
May 2024 SOCKS
I am still knitting a pair of socks each month. I have talked about the benefits of knitting before but, these days, I am focused on improving the function of my vagus nerve, as well as learning how to consistently taken a few minutes each day to intentionally experience positive emotions and just feel good
“Snazzy Socks for Charles”
Every once in awhile you have to knit a pair of socks for someone you love! It is NOT a hardship but, it is a reminder how important it is to show love, show kindness and practice unconditional positive regard every single day. Life is too short to not listen, not care and not make
The Last of the Hats…Spring is Here!
I have been knitting hats this winter. I am going to tuck them away to donate or give as gifts when Fall/Winter arrive on our doorstep once again. What is next? I don’t know quite yet but, I might work on a few sewing projects instead…time will tell. One of the things that I LOVE
Colourful Hats…
I just keep knitting hats – why? Well, at the right time of year, everyone is happy for a nice warm hat. The toque is an important part of our heritage as Canadians. The Canadian-English term was assimilated from the Canadian-French word tuque, and first appeared in this context around 1870. The fashion is said
Knitting Socks, Socks and More Socks…
I am still knitting about 1 pair of socks each month. I enjoy the fact that I know that pattern VERY well now and I love sorting through our LARGE boxes of sock yarn to come up with bright, fun and interesting combinations. This particular yarn was purchased near Quebec City at a small yarn
Knitting HATS for charity…
I now have three hats complete and once I get to 5, I will donate them to a worthy cause. I can knit one hat per week – which takes about 3 hours. There is a general lack of appreciation for homemade gifts – it is so easy to buy a hat or mittens or
The Same Hat, No Pom-Pom
So, when I tried to give my son, Sebastian one of my hats because he is an outside cross-country skiing, skating kind of guy, he turned me down. Why? It was definitely the pom-pom. I actually love pom-poms, I love making them – all one colour, multi-colour but, I can see why they are not
A NEW Hat Pattern
Fair Isle knitting, also known as stranded colorwork knitting, is a technique for working two (or more) colors of yarn in the same row. It is fun to knit and easy once you get the hang of it. The color changes in Fair Isle are close together. This allows you to carry the yarn you
Reading Shawl Complete
The pattern is $5 US on Ravelry… https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/readers-wrap Although this wrap is supposed to be for snuggling up on a winter’s night at home with a good book, which I often do, I also think it is great to throw on when you are running errands or our shopping. The big pockets are fun and
The FIRST Pair of Socks of 2024
The yarn for these socks was purchased in Lisbon, Portugal during our trip in September. The yarn shop was beautiful and all the yarn was sold by weight. The yarn was displayed on shelves behind the counter and the salesperson needed to climb the ladder and retrieve the yarn. It was an amazing experience to
Knitting Hats…in 2024
This is the fourth hat I have created with this pattern….For the hat:1st row: Knit2nd row: K4 (p6, k9) 4 times, p6, k53rd row: P1, (k1, p1) 2 times, *k7 (p1, k1) 4 times; rep from * to last 11 stitches, k6 (p1, k1) 2 times, p14th row: K1 (p1, k1) 2 times, *p6 (p1,
More HATS…
This is a fun project! This month, I have stayed with the same pattern – next month, I will try a new pattern! I am going to give this set of hats to our neighbours – a young couple who we spent an evening with – pizza and wine and chocolate pear cardamon cake. The
2024 – The Year of the Hat
This winter, I have set myself a goal of kitting one hat every week. I have MANY patterns for hats and there are many free patterns available on PInterest or Ravelry but, I will share the ones that I use in my blog. One of the things that I like to do is find 5
The Final Socks of 2023
We are now less than 5 days from the end of 2023. I have knit at least one pair of socks a month – usually 1- 1/2 pair and now, I have completed my last sock of the year. Having a pair of homemade socks in a real gift – there are MANY stitches in
The Reader’s Wrap
What do you do when you have read 149 books out of your 150 Goodreads reading goal for 2023? Well, you knit yourself a Reader’s Wrap. I have seen a couple of posts on Facebook in the Facebook Book Club and the Goodreads Society saying that some people don’t believe that anyone can read 150
The 2023 Sock Project Give-Away
This pair is created with yarn that we purchased at the yarn store that we found in Lisbon, Portugal. Naturally, I have decided to give these to Charles as part of our “Memories of Portugal”. They are nice and thick and will be great for winter hikes. I have become VERY good at making socks
More Socks To Give Away….
If you have been following our podcasts, you will know that we just returned from a trip to Portugal and Spain. I still can’t believe that we actually went to start with but, it was magnificent in so many ways – from food, to scenery, to architecture, to lazy days on the Algarve beach. We
The 2023 Sock Project Give-Away
I have given away a LOT of socks in the past couple of years. Have you ever received a gift with strings attached? I have and it is uncomfortable. Know this for sure, when I give you a gift, it is because I love you and care about you and I think the gift I
SOCKS for people who don’t even like SOCKS…
We all know these people – the sock haters – the people who do NOT like to wear socks. I get it. Some people just hate to wear socks. To some they are a necessary evil when you put your boots on to go outside on a cold winter’s day. While you can do just
The 2023 Sock Give-Away
I am getting very fast at knitting socks. Every month yields about 3 socks now – maybe even 2 pairs. I have now decided that it is time to try a new pattern. I have been creating toe-up socks. They are fairly straight forward and I have the pattern pretty much memorized – it is
Still Knitting Socks…May 2023
It is only May 17th and I have already finished my pair of socks for May! Yes, I am definitely getting faster at knitting socks. Maybe this month, I feel like I will be able to knit two pairs. I am giving these away as I knit them. I have been giving them to my
The 2023 Sock Project – April Sock
This months sock goes to our dear friend and naturopath, Dr. Carrie. After recording an amazing podcast with her (I hope you have had a chance to listen), I decided that I would knit her a pair of socks. Dr. Carrie loves to be outdoors – and she is positive, loves her job and definitely
Easter Bunnies from Squares
Every Easter, I like to try something new to give away to little (and big) friends. Along with baking LOTS of paska (or Mennonite Easter Bread), I like to sew or knit something fun. This year, I knit several different sized squares and created little bunnies. I have attached the instructions below…. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knit-bunny-from-a-square Here is
The 2023 Sock Give-Away – March
These socks are going to our first podcast guest of 2023 – I have decided to knit a pair of socks for anyone who comes on our podcast (unless the knit their own socks, lol). It is a fun way to honour those who are willing to share their story and their expertise with us.
Fibre Market…
Today, we took a little trip to Hamilton to the 2023 Fibre Market to take a look at some local yarn distributers and dyers. It was a lot of fun to walk around and “touch” some beautiful yarn. Of course, we had to buy a little yarn for ourselves. It was a lot of fun
Are you ready to try something new? 2023 Sock Project Giveaway – February
I am reading a book by Seth Godin called “Practice”. He talks about life being about practice and being generous and changing the lives of those around you is simply about “taking action”. Here is his list to help you “practice”…Skill is not the same of talent. A good process; can lead to good outcomes,
2023 Sock Project Give Away – January
This year, instead of holding on to all the socks and giving them away at the end of the year, I am giving the socks away as I make them. This pair was made out of yarn scraps – little pieces of leftover yarn from various other socks that have been made previously. The best
The 2022 Sock Project – The Last Sock
Well, I did it – I knit one sock every month in 2022. Is it over? Not at all – this year, I am going to knit and give all year long – 2023 is the going to be the Sock Project Continued…with socks going out to friends and family all year long – for
The 2022 Sock Project: November
I think most people will know me will tell you that when I commit to something, I follow through. I think people who worked with me probably found this annoying or frustrating at times, I was always monitoring, making lists, talking about how we could solve problems, what prevented us from moving forward, etc. Breaking
The 2022 Sock Project – OCTOBER
Many people have told me – and I definitely know this myself – when I decide I am going to do something, I complete the task 99% of the time. So, it is no surprise that I have completed a pair of socks each month during 2022. It is on my list, every day…I do
The Sock Project 2022 – September
This is a men’s sock – the yarn makes the beautiful pattern and I just added the solid for the toe and heel for variety. I am thinking that the sock project will continue into 2023. It is very satisfying to knit a sock every month – I am able to give them away and
The 2022 Sock Project – August
This month, I chose a men’s sock pattern (written by Charles and posted below)…the “Sock Project” is very fun and I am planning to continue it until all our sock yarn runs out from our stash. This will likely take well in to the late 2020’s. Size 10.5 men’s foot Gauge: 6 1/2 sts/inchPurple YarnToe
The Year of the Sock: July
My multi-coloured sock is complete for July. I used the standard pattern for a lady’s sock that I have posted several times. Charles finished his March sock…so he is catching up, slowly. Knitting socks is perfect for summer because they are not big or heavy or hot. Remember, everything seems daunting until you give it
The Year of the Sock: June
I have continued to knit socks even during hot weather. Socks are actually a great summer knitting project because they are small (not heavy and hot like a big blanket). This month, it was 2 pairs of socks for children. I have attached the pattern – this pattern would be for children who in Kindergarten
Do you want to learn to knit or crochet?
When I was beginning to knit, I made 4 HUGE blankets with scraps of wool – they were all garter stitch. It worked because I was practicing getting my tension even. Then I tried some stockinette (knit/purl) and I crocheted scarves and even a sweater. When I learned to crochet, I started with dishcloths. You
The 2022 Sock Project: May
How many socks should we have after 5 months? We should have 10 pairs of socks. How many socks do we have? We have 7 pairs of socks. Who has NOT fulfilled their sock commitment? Charles Voth Which is your favourite colour way? Which pair of socks would you like?
The APRIL SOCK – The 2022 Sock Project Continues….
Where is Charles’ sock? Well, he is 2 socks behind now – but, he has a lot of one sock wonders so, I am sure he will be able to catch up pretty fast. I have included the pattern for this one because it includes some fancy sti Size 8.5 women’sfoot Gauge: ?sts/inchPurple Yarn Toe
The Year of the Sock – March
Charles is a bit behind – but, he will soon catch up with his very fancy sock. The project is lots of fun AND we have found a lot of “one sock wonders” in our yarn stash. These mostly belong to Charles but, he is VERY quick study and we will add all of these
February Socks…
Another month, another two pairs of socks. I made the larger, purple ones for some lucky man and Charles made the yellow ones….these are women’s socks. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/design-your-own-toe-up-socks
The Year of the Sock – January/February
With January’s socks complete, we are (or at least I) am starting on February’s. I haven’t seen Charles start on his – but, he is much faster at knitting socks. Here is the pattern:https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/design-your-own-toe-up-socks
2022: The Year of the Sock
Christmas is over, the handmade gifts have been given and, guess what…it is time to think about Christmas 2022. What do you do when you are actually drowning in sock yarn? You knit socks and you start early because knitting a pair of socks for everyone on your list is a daunting task. Charles and
Cowel for Davi….9 year old boy
Now is the time of year when I start to plan for Christmas…I start sewing, knitting, crocheting and planning. Many people appreciate a homemade gift. I love giving homemade gifts but, they take time…so, lists and ideas and plans are necessary and it is definitely time to start. Davi is the son of a friend
Tweed Toque by Very Busy Monkey Designs
This pattern is a free download on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tweed-toque It includes both adult and smaller size versions. It is a great hat. I have also included the instructions for a child-sized version (7-9 year old) – see below….. Cast on 90 sts. Place marker to mark start of round. Work in 1×1 twisted rip (p1,
Knitting Project
I share my creative passions with my husband Charles. In fact, I don’t think I would have picked up knitting or crocheting without him. I definitely give him a hard time about his crazy pattern designs and how he loves to “take over” when he is trying to show me something. The truth is, he