May Celebration

I finished! I did plain feet, and I am glad that I did. The leg didn't have very much stretch when I tried them on. I love the look of the pattern stitch, but it doesn't show very well with this dark, multicolored yarn. Ready for the June sock pattern. And now to cast on the beautiful stole.

May Celebration socks done.

Regia silk in pale blue, on 2.25mm (one done on dpns one on 2 circs). Took a long time to memorise the pattern, but went really fast once it had clicked. Lovely fit in the feet but a tight fit over the heels - not sure whether I should have done the 10 pattern repeats in the leg, but looks nice.

I Made It!

Yarn is Socks That Rock lightweight in Lenore.

Beautiful pattern! Thanks, Anni!

Shannan

School's Out--Let Me Knit

Whoopee!! Last day of school!! I have been so busy the past few months that almost all knitting has been put on hold with just a stitch here and there. I have the Celebrations socks cast on and ready to go and the yarn for the stole is waiting next to me. I have made a promise to myself to knit everyday in the sun and collect some of the Vitamin D!! I hope Anni forgives me for being so slow at getting my socks going, but I am enjoying the patterns and the blog. Keep 'em coming,
Anni!! There sure are some great looking socks out there. Hope mine are next!
KarenO in Ohio

Introduction

Hi, I am Vicki from the state of Virginia in the USA. Although I have been a member of the basic KAL since the end of February, I have not yet had time to knit any of the patterns due to some charity knitting commitments, but I am signed up for the 52 Pair Plunge II and Summer of Socks, so I am getting my yarn and patterns in order for lots of heavy duty sock knitting. I plan to start June 1 with Simply Cables, as it has such a classically elegant appearance.

Celebrations Socks are DONE!

Here are my celebrations socks! I was really pleased with how they turned out and thought the pattern was interesting. I used Regia Bamboo Sock in the Jamaica colorway. I shortened the leg repeats and added a 2 x 2 ribbed cuff.

I'm celebrating too!

Finished just in time to go on vacation. they look like vacation socks, don't they! Yarn is Noro. We will be on the road for June and July's patterns, so I'm taking four or five yarn choices along with me. We'll have our laptop, and internet access, so I can download the patterns.

Celebration Sock

This is my Celebration Socks. Completed them Yesterday and my cat is just doing a quality control check. Loved making these socks as it was easy to memorise and I only needed the pattern with me when I did the heel and the toe. used angle yarn hand dyed sock yarn. cant wait for June pattern because I wan't to start knitting another pair asap.

Celebrating

I loved this pattern. Thanks Anni. But I ran out of yarn. 1 and 1/2 socks done and languishing. Drat! Oh well. I have hope for next month's pattern.

Anni, this is a great KAL and your patterns are wonderful.

Hi all,

I have been out of the loop recently. I tried my google bookmark and got the message that I was not invited to the group. I got the May pattern there. What's up? Am I missing something?

Sockaholic aka Paula

its a celebration!

hi

i just finished the celebrations socks and had to pry them off my daughter so i could photograph them! thanks for the wonderful pattern.

Hiya guys,
Just thought I drop a line to letcha all know I'm still here n all that. I really like the pattern for the celebration sox. I have it queued up after I get done with my other sox I'm doing for another particular contest.

Celebrations done with time to spare.

I finished these Monday, tried to post yesterday and did it today.. They are done in Patrons Kroy Socks, colorway Fancy Free. I used KP Harmony(which I absolutely adore!!) size 1(foot) & 2(leg since I was knitting tightly because of the cables) ML. I knit them toe up and did a sewn cast off.

I bought this yarn over a year ago and decided that I didn't really like it. (I have become somewhat of a yarn snob. LOL) But it was in my meager stash so I had to go ahead and use it. I knit up nicely but feels a trifle heavier than I am used to using.

Judy

Introduction...

Hi, I'm new to the group. I'm 46, have three "almost" grown children and live in upstate NY. I'm an avid sock knitter and look forward to participating in this group. I'm also very new to any form of blogging so hopefully this will actually work :)

I've got the Celebration Sock pattern ready to go - will pick out some yarn tomorrow and get started. Should have a photo update before too long.

I just wanted to pop on and say hi. I am really looking forward to casting on the celebration socks. I am teaching myself magic loop right now and will cast on as soon as my first "practice pair" are complete.

Does anybody else do magic loop?

New bonus pattern posted

I forgot to post the other day that I posted a new bonsu pattern on the Google group. Think it was River Valley I posted. A pattern from last summer and there are toe up and top down versions.

Be quick, they'll be gone in a few days.

Happy knitting,

Anni

Sweet celebration socks finished

During knitting this socks the colour of the yarn all the time remembered me of sweets we call 'Spekkies' (for most of you it are Marshmellows).


I am happy with the result but are still not sure if I want to add some cuffs on the socks. They are quit wide now.
The yarn is from
Ewas-sockenwolle.de
colour: Frühlingsblüte
(wool, cotton, silk), needles: 2,75 (bamboo)

On the second photo you can see the colour
of the yarn (and the 'spekkies') much better.



I hadn't been eating them for years.
They are very sweet.

Thank you Anni for this patten, I am sure I will make it again.

I'm a Bit Behind...

Hi Everyone!

I'm a bit of a lurker by nature, and also a bit behind with the socks, but wanted to post sometime as an indication that I'm participating!

I finally finished my Snowflake Socks - they were my first fair-isle socks, and it took me a bit of time to get the hang of it. Here is a picture of the first sock - I will have to get pictures of the pair, but the second sock is the same colors, only reversed.Hope you like them, and thanks, Anni for all of the great patterns!

Joy in Atlanta

First Celebrations Sock

I finished my first Celebrations sock earlier in the week, so I thought I'd post a pic.



I'm using Socks That Rock lightweight in Lenore. Since it's so dark, it was hard to get a good picture (the one above has been lightened to show the detail of the stitches).

The second sock is already on the needles. I'm not sure I'll finish before the end of the month (cables are slow for me), but I'm going to try.

Celebration.....finished and already gone.

Another pair done and given to my daughter.

They were a little small at the ankle.

She loves them very much.

I probably knit them to tight because of all those cables.

Can't wait for the next pattern...

Thanks anni !!!

Celebration Sock Completed

Was afraid that the varigated yarn would take away from the cabling but it turned out beautiful.
Congratulation Anni to a year of Sockamania! Thank you for the beautiful pattern!

Knitted in unknown superwash merino wool given to me by my neighbor. US2. Off to cast on the May Day sock!

Shame...

I hang my head in shame.
I'm not going to make the Celebration Socks in May. I need to finish my mums birthday present before starting anything else...
But I will make them eventually (love that pattern!) and then post them here. Even have my yarn picked out already...

By the way Anni: congrats to a year of Sockamania! And thanks for all those lovely patterns you have created.

Me is off to continue the dreaded stole of doom...

Ain't they lovely?

I have just finished my celebrations and they are so good on my feet. The yarn is beautiful, and I love the colours.
Wonder what June can bringe now.

Celebrating Love

I just finished my second pair of Simply Love socks. I was visiting my mom when I finished the first pair, which were going to my sister recovering from surgery, and my mom fell in love with them. She wanted some "just like them," but doing two pair of socks using the exact same pattern and yarn is too boring for me, so I talked her into this Reggia yarn instead. I've used this picot bind off now on three pair of socks, and it's so cute as well as stretchy.

My Celebration socks are still on the needles. I don't know if I'll finish them in time for the drawing. We had issues. This yarn is absolutely gorgeous, called Noro, but has zero elasticity. It took my almost two hours to do 10 rows of pattern because trying to make the yarn stretch for cables and ssk was almost impossible. So I switched to a thin and thin rib. About the time I hit the heel, I realized I had been using size 0 needles instead of the size 1 I thought I had been using. So I switched to size 2 for the leg, tried the pattern again, and it's going much more smoothly, although you can't really see it yet. This yarn has a HUGE repeat, so the socks will bear only a fleeting family resemblance to each other.

Joining Sockamania

How To Join Sockamania



Thank you for your interest in joining Sockamania and wanting to become part of Sockamania family. To join is free and with that you get one of Tama’s sock pattern designs per month.

You have to be a member of the Blog first, then you will be invited to join the Google group. The Blog is for posting about your socks and finished photos, Google group is where the pattern will be posted for downloading. Beginning September 2010, patterns will be available every other month. When a new pattern is released a post will notify that it is ready to download. The previous pattern will then be available for purchase in The Twisted Hare’s Etsy shop (Tama’s online store). Remember that all of Tama’s wonderful patterns are copyrighted.

To be included in the draw, the current socks must be completed and the picture posted by the last day of the two-month on the Sockamania Blog. Only photos of completed socks posted on the Sockamania Blog will qualify for the draw. Pictures of finished socks from previous months may be posted but will not be included in the prize draw. One winner will be drawn and can either choose a skein of yarn, 2 accessories, or 2 patterns from Tama’s Esty Shop.

Before you request to join, Please note that the Blog and the group are both Google and the invites to both MUST be to the same email address. If you have a gmail/google mail account use that, this will make things easier for you and us.
Do not join the blog with one email address and then ask to join the group with a different one. If you do so you will have your blogger membership removed and you will have to start over again.

TO JOIN THE BLOG:
1 - Send a mail to sockamania@hotmail.co.uk requesting to join.
When applying, make sure you are using the email address you are going to use on the blog and group.. those that ask for a invite with one address and then join with another will be removed
This is done towards the end of the month, so please be patient and wait for your invite to arrive. It is up to you to accept promptly so your ready to start knitting from the start of the following month. The new pattern is normally posted on the first of the month and removed 5 days prior to the end. Again it is up to you to make sure you have downloaded the pattern before it is removed as it will no longer be available.

2 - Accept your Blogger invite. We do not receive notification that you have accepted your invite, so at this point you have two choices to join the Google Group.
The best and quickest option is to email us at sockamaniabloghelp@googlemail.com stating you have accepted your invite and would like an invite to the Google group
(Again, it is important that you make sure you use the same email address that you have used to signed up with on the Blog)
Or you will have to wait until we have seen on the members list that you have accepted, The Google group is unlisted, you will not find it or gain membership by searching for it.

If an email address needs to be verified, you will be sent a message supplying you with a link to sort that out. If you do not accept your Blogger invite you will not be invited to the group. No show on the Blog, no go on the group.

Please accept promptly so your ready to download the pattern.. it is up to you to accept invites and up to you as a member to download the pattern to give yourselves enough time to knit that months socks.

To keep your membership:
Once you are a member, you will need to post one completed pair of the current sock pattern on the Sockamania blog in order to verify membership. After that you will need to post at least one completed pair of Tama’s sock designs in a six month period in order to remain an active member. Anyone not posting the “verifing” sock in the first month will be removed from the membership list. Anyone not posting at least one completed pair during a six month period will also be removed from the membership list.
If you have been removed and filled the requirements above, please email us with a link to your post.. to have your membership activated again.

Some Background Information About Sockamania:
Sockamania was started in May 2007 by Anni and has grown into something great.
Tama took over the Sockamania blog in October of 2009 to allow Anni to pursue new and exciting opportunities designing for magazines and other venues.
There are now only two of us on the Sockamania Admin Team:
Tama: writes the patterns and offers help, although please use the Blog for pattern queries, someone else might have the same problem.

Barb: Issues the invites and will offer any help you may need either Blog or Group related Contact sockamaniabloghelp@googlemail.com. She also maintains the Blog. Adding names of completed socks for the monthly draw and sending them on to Tama. She will also be available to help if you have problems with the pattern.

Both of us want you to have fun, but remember this is free so play nicely. We encourage members to leave comments on socks posted. To discourage spammers, only members are able to leave comments on the blog.

Happy Knitting
Sockamania Admin Team

Celebrations Socks Finished

I finished these socks a few days ago, but didn't take a picture until now due to a very swollen left foot (couldn't get the sock on). Love the pattern, but this self striping yarn was a terrible choice for a color.

These will be going to a friend in the hospital who said that her feet were cold. She'll be very surprised because she's been hinting that she'd like a pair of hand knit socks.

Thanks again Anni for a wonderful pattern.

May Celebration Socks done

Well I finished. I made them ankle socks, our weather is in the triple digets now so most of my socks will be ankle ones. I enjoyed the pattern and plan on making them again, a little longer for the winter months but not right now. While knitting these my 5 yr old son brought me a ball of yarn and asked me to make him a pair of sock because the socks I made him a couple of years ago were too small. Every time I picked up the celebration socks to work on he would bring me his. I figured the best way to do this was to stop working on my May socks and do his so he would leave me alone. I finished his and he has worn them several times this last week. ha ha. Thanks again Annie for another wonderful pattern

Celebration...Working on it !!!

Yes...I'm working on them and they hey probably be ready

for the end of the month. Love the pattern,

but just on the ankle.

Are'nt they cute ?

My daughter just love the color.

Thanks for the pattern Anni...

Celebrations "Done"

I "finished" the May Celebration socks last week, but am posting this week to allow time for finishing them fully.

Honest, they'd be finished by now if I knew the recipient. As 'tis they're in the Present stash awaiting assignation, when they'll get finished properly, wrapped & given. The idea is to save all that hectic pre-Christmas knitting, particularly as a lot of family birthdays also occur Sept-Dec. I think it's called Organisation, or something. Of course, it'll only work if I now put them somewhere safe, with knitting details, then remember where that is come gift season!.

Knitted in Regia Bamboo color 4-ply (45% bamoo, 40% wool, 15% nylon)

At last! Simply cables...

Sockamania Cable Sock March 2008 , originally uploaded by norfolkknitter.

These were finished on time but we've only just got around to photographing them!

Love the Celebration socks and hope to get them OTN ASAP.

New bonus pattern & competition

I've just posted a new bonus pattern - Spiralling Socks which was August's socks. The pattern will be up for a few days. So if you want a copy download it and save it on your computer or print it asap.

And now for the Competion:

List the names of all the Sockamania sock patterns from May 07 until April 08. Name of sock pattern and month please. All answers to be posted in the comments and in a week I'll draw a winner.

Only competition replies in the comments of this post please.

Good luck.

Happy knitting,

Anni

First competition winner is...

.............Knottykitty. The answer was ofcourse Norway. Not the most difficult question in the world and everyone got the answer right. Simon drew the winner for me. Knottykitty e-mail me on yarnaddictAThotmailDOTcoDOTuk (replacing AT with @ and DOT with .) and let me know yoru address and your choice of skein from my Etsy shop and I'll post it to you on Tuesday when I get back home.

I managed to visit not just one but two yarn shops today. The lovely Maud's Garn in Oslo. Wow, what a wonderful yarn shop, the best one I've been to in Norway yet. I got some wonderful pure alpaca aran/worsted yarn and some gorgeous white silk from India, think it's either fingering weight/4ply or dk. And a shawl pin, some Knit Pick options tips. They had some gorgeous yarn there and I could have bought a lot more but Simon was hovering outside and we have a prett ysmall luggage allowance flying home with Ryan Air.

I then found another yarn shop, Strikkedilla, in Oslo City. But I didn't buy any there, very restrained of me. I'm well impressed with myself. LOL.

Pics when Iget home.

Off to knit some more now. Just stared a new sock design, the 2nd one this holiday. Finished sock design one today in the car back from Oslo. they're not Sockamania ones though but submissions for something else and top secret for the time being.

Happy knitting everyone,

Anni

Simply Cables - check

I finally finished my Simply Cables last night. I love them! They're the first pair I've finished for myself since February... They're perfect and fit me really well. I love the color of the yarn (Farmhouse Fannie's Fingering weight in Caribbean), it matches one of my favorite shirts perfectly!

Thank you Anni! Now I can go back to the Celebrations socks!

Valerie

Competition

I promised competitions this month, but it's kind of been delayed due to my holiday which I'm still on. I've got internet access but I'm struggling to find time to do everything I want to every day.

Okay, competition one: Where in the world am I right now?

Fairly easy question.

Answers in the comments please. Closing time is 6pm UK time on Friday evening. I'll get online sometime Friday evening and draw the winner. And announce a new competion.

Prize for this competition - a skein of my handpainted yarn of your choice.

And did I tell you that I've got free postage on everything in my shop, anywhere in the world.

And I've opened a new Ravelry group.

and finally, May Day pattern will stay up on the google group until tomorrow evening then I'll try to remember to take it down and post a new, former Sockamania pattern which will be available for a few days.

Happy knitting,

Anni

...celebrations...

Blogger ate half of my last entry... but here they are...great socks and a fun pattern!

Knit in Silja superwash, on 2.5mm needles, two-at-a-time on one circular doing magic loop, top-down.

It's hard to believe it's already been a year since I joined the club- I've knit every pattern, and only failed on the snowflake socks in December, they weren't done until January . Right now I'm wearing my MayDay-socks, a bit more felted in the feet, but still looking good:-)

Thanks for hosting this sockclub, Anni, I'm looking foward to every new pattern.

Enjoy spring:-)

May Day socks!

I would love to show you pictures of these socks from all angles (I did take many), but I'll restrain myself with just one photograph. :o) I like this pattern so much, I'm going to knit another pair, but with a totally different yarn. I thought this would stripe, but it didn't really. You might have thought, that the color name "Crazy Color" would have given me a hint. It's Regia by the way, I like knitting with it, and I like especially how durable it is. I like the colores too, but am not a fan of strange color pooling, but the pattern makes up for it big time. I was so happy to get this pattern, that I cast on at once! Now I'm not going to knit another pair of socks this month. Two pairs is enough. So much else on my to do list. :o)

I didn't get a third repeat in for the foot, so I made two full ones, and improvised until I started decreasing for the toes. I made the small size, with 64 stitches, on 2.5mm needles.
Thank you, Anni, for this lovely pattern!
Monika

Sweet celebration socks

Last month I became member of this Club. My name is Mieke, I do live in The Hague, The Netherlands.
I am nearly halfway with the Celebration socks. It will be really summer socks, in a candy colour. The colour really looks like the colour of sweets we call 'Spekkies' in The Netherlands, but looks like the colour off marshmellows as well.
I like the pattern, knitting is not going very fast, but I like the result.
The yarn is from Ewas-sockenwolle.de

Anni, thank you for this club and the patterns. Enjoy your holiday!

I started my Celebrations socks!

I cast on Monday night this month's pattern. Of course I had to do it toe-up. I would have loved to center the pattern on the foot but didn't want to add stitches as it was big enough already. I think it looks fine as is though, so I'm happy with it.

The pattern is slow going but it will make some very pretty socks! Thank you Anni!

Simply Cables finally finished

I don't know why it took me so long, I kept getting distracted with other projects, but the Simply Cables socks are finally finished! I guess after missing the deadline I was less motivated to finish them.



Pattern: Simply Cables from Sockamania
Yarn: BMFA Socks That Rock Lightweight in Blue Brick Wall
Started: 3/7/08
Finished: 5/7/08

...progress...

I just looked at the lace stole- and my fingers are itching to start it! I just have to go through my stash to see if there's anything suitable there! You're doing a great job with this blog, Anni! Have a nice holiday! Are you perhaps off to celebrate May 17th? (Norways national day...) I'm knitting. This is how far the celabrations socks are.... I'm doing both at the same time using magic loop

MAY DAY SOCKS PATTERN AVAILABLE

As promised last week i'm making selected previous Sockamania patterns available for a limited period. I've just posted the May Day sock pattern to the Google group. It was the very first Sockamania pattern. Download it and print or save it to your computer quickly as it'll be gone in a few days.

Happy knitting

Anni

May Celebration Completed -- Short and Sweet

Completed my May Celebration socks last evening but was too tired to take a photo then struggle with the blog to get them posted. Since I did some serious ing the pattern on the ankle is enough. I love their look, I love their fit and I know I am going to love wearing them.

First May-sock done

Happy anniversary, Anni. You are doing a marvellous job for us, and I do really look forward every month to get the yarn and the pattern in my mailbox.
I have finished the first sock, easy and very beautyful pattern. The next sock is already on the needles.

simply cables... at last !

At last, i decide to take a minute and post a pic from my simply cables socks. I finished them just about a week after the deadline, but then we bought a new computer and it took a while for my husband to reconfigurate everything, so i was not able to post my socks sooner. I made these socks for my daughter who lives and studies in Belgium. I thought i would knit a shorter leg so she could wear them during the summer. I just love them, they are so comfy and the pattern was really fun to knit. I am actually knitting another pair for myself. There won't be blue bells socks for me to show. I tried to knit the pattern and i gave up. I am pretty new at fair isle and the leg was way too tight and it was all bumpy...Very unattractive. So i put the pattern in a file for future use. the new pattern is

absolutely lovely and i really have to go shopping and try to find a special yarn color for this one. Congrats to the blue bell winners!



yarn: fabel from Garnstudio avocado colorway

knitting needles. # 2.25 metric size

May 2008 socks are done!

After so much trouble getting to this pattern, I had to cast on at once. Thank you so much for your help, Pixie! I can't quite believe it myself, but they are done. Of course I had a slight advantage, since I had a finished toe sitting on my coffee table for a couple of weeks. That's also the reason why I did mine toe up. I've cast on with this yarn for three different socks, nothing worked out, but I think this stitch pattern is O.K. with this yarn. I didn't want to make a plain vanilla sock with it. I also made a cuff, just because I like my socks that way. They are still wet in this picture, that's why I didn't want to pull them on my feet for a picture yet. Here are some specs:

yarn: Lucy Neatby's Celestial merino sock yarn, colorway : Honeypot, 2-ply
needles: 2.5mm for the foot and 4 inches up the leg, than I switched to 2.75mm, but didn't have to, now they are a bit loose
size: large, my feet are 10.25 inches long

I made 11 cable twists on the leg, plus the cuff, which makes them 7 inches long. I didn't have too much yarn left over either.

Unfortunately I don't have a long life expectancy for these socks, because of all the frayed places, throughout the skein. It must have been a faulty yarn, that's too bad, because I like how they look all knit up.

I first got attracted to this sock club, when I saw the May 2007 socks pop up on other blogs. I sincerely hope this will be one of the patterns, Anni is planning on making available this month. That would be awesome! :o)
Thank you, Anni, and happy Anniversary!

Monika

Well I have cast on but I have to get my chores and more school work done before I can continue.I do like the pattern and can't wait to get working on them.

Congrats on 1 year with your socks Anni.

Here is my update lol. This is May's yarn from Anni, Looks better in person. I am on my seventh row but had to rip back to the begining of the row. I got lost trying to count and deal with little ones. Maybe in a day or two I will have better progress ha ha. The yarn is sooooo soft I love it. Well maybe I should run and start knitting some more before I get side tracked by my kids. You all are doing a wonderful job!!!!

Loving the Celebration socks

This pattern looked pretty complicated to me when I saw the chart, but it is knitting up nicely. I can't believe how quickly the socks have lengthened. I'm up to 2 inches already and I haven't fully completed 3 repeats of the chart! I'm not sure if I will complete the chart 10 times like it says in the pattern, though, I don't really like my socks that tall. We'll see. Here is a picture of my progress so far.


I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Socks in the Somerset colorway. The skeins are from the Jimmy Beans Wool millends sale that they had a couple of months ago. I'm using Knitpicks size 1.5, 40" circular needle and magic looping these babies. I'm trying my best to finish them before the sock war starts on Friday, let's see how far I get.

Happy First Anniversary!

I can't believe that it's been a year already! I looked at my May Day socks this morning and was amazed that they are almost a year old already, and they won me a skein of Anni's yarn!! (which I still haven't used yet)

I did slow down a bit during the year, but have knitted about 1/2 of the pairs total - some came out better than others, but they have all been worn at least once.

Keep up the great work, Anni - looking forward to participating for a long time to come!

Jackie(knits)

May Celebration -- In Progress

As soon as I saw the pattern I knew it would make a great pair of short socks to wear in the summer. I casted on, added 10 rows of k2, p2 at the top and began. A few false starts later, I was on my way. I completed the ankle (did 4 sets of the pattern), turned the heel and began the gusset. Then it happened, the pattern was not lining up as it should to continue smoothly into the foot. What to do? Should I pull it back and redo the heel so everything was in line, or continue and finish, with just a plain knitted foot. I opted for the latter. My first sock is completed and I am into the second. I wasn't sure if I would like what I did, but I do. Call it a screw up in reverse, but I like the finished product so much I am planning on making more. I am using Berrocco Comfort Sock in white.

Congratulations Anni on the First Anniversay of Sockamania. Looking forward to another year of wonderful patterns.

Barb

Celebration Socks (so far)

Happy 1st Birthday Anni and Sockamania!

Here are my socks so far. Since I know that Anni

doesn't mind, I'm doing these toe up as usual, and am also doing an afterthought heel. To keep the pattern symmetrical, I did a K2, then two repeats of the pattern (less the last 4 stitches), then ended with a K2. Then at the ankle, I moved the K2 stitches to the needle holding the remainder of the pattern.

Sounds more confusing than it is. The yarn turned out to be way more self striping than I had intended, but it looks pretty cool on (once the pattern is stretched out).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOCKAMANIA

I can't believe it's a year since I started Sockamania. I thought I'd be luckyto get 25 members when I started it. Very quickly I had 50, which was my limit for a while. Now it's grown to around 400 (I think). A huge thank you to all those of you who have joined and especially those who've been here from the beginning. I'd love to see more people join in on the blog in the next year htough. If you don't finish your socks please post some progress pics so we can see which yarn you're using etc.

There will be lots of special celebratory stuff going on this month. A very special knitalong too which has nothing to do with socks. The KAL will be revealed on Monday 5th May.

There will be some special prize draws this month. As well as a draw for finsihed pairs I'm also doing a draw for everyone who's posted at least one progress pic this month. So get those cameras clicking.

And some special competitions. First one in a few days.

And as a special gift to all our members, I'll be posting previous Sockamaina patterns on the Google group. They'll only be available for a few days though so be quick to download them or print them off. I'll announce on theblog when I make a previous pattern available, so keep checking often.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Barb W, Pam and Pixie for all their help. Without them Sockamania wouldn't still be going.

I'll be back on Monday with details of our special KAL and the first competition.

Happy knitting,

Anni

Long Awaited Ripples

I've been a very bad Sockamaniac lately, but I finally do have an FO to post. How sad is it that they are November's Ripples socks?? :-)

In my defense, I did try them in November, but had terrible fit issues using the smaller needles I prefer. I finally went up to 2.5 mm needles, and using a basic Cat Bordhi recipe, succeeded in getting an OK fit (still a bit tight going over the heel, but I think that's because the bamboo content in the yarn gives them less stretch?). Oh, and they have actually been done for maybe 2 weeks now....I think I was too ashamed of the delay to post them!



Yarn: Posh Yarns Lei

I'm going to give them to my mom for Mother's Day if they fit her. If not, they're all mine, because they're super-yummy! :-)

Almost did it....

I tried sooooo hard to finish my bluebell socks. Around 10 last evening I started the heel flap and realized that it just was not going to happen. I will finish them up in the next couple of days and post a late picture.

Then I will start on May and really try to finish them on time.

A little help:)

I could not start the bluebell sock last month but now i really want to cast on for them,is the pattern gone?

Ooops

I forgot to post my socks! I actually finished 3 pairs last month but forgot to post. And noe it is too late.

April Blue Bell Winners!

Congratulations to the Winners of the April BlueBell prize draw:



Junglemama

and

Kate



Your socks are beautiful! Please e-mail Anni on sockamania@hotmail.co.uk with your address and choice of yarn. You can choose one skein of yarn each from her Etsy shop.



May marks the FIRST ANNIVERSARY of SOCKAMANIA. The May Sock pattern will be posted on the Sockamania Google Groups site either today or tomorrow. Watch for it

SPECIAL KNITALONG - CELEBRATION STOLE

I have finally got my act together and can announc the start of a special anniversary knitalong. It's a lace stole for those of us who fancy a break from socks and would like something light and lacy for the summer. The pattern is available on th Google group now for you to download. Please make sure you download and print or save the pattern on your own pc before the end of May as the pattern will be taken down then.

The knitalong will last until the end of June. There will be a prize draw for finished stoles. Post a pic of your finsihed stole to be included in the draw at the end of June. The prize will be a Anni Design/YarnAddict Yarns kit of your choice. Depending on how many finished items there are in the draw there may be more than one prize. I'm offering one prize for every 10 finished entries.

The stole is knitted in two halves and then grafted together although you could do a 3 needle bind off instead. It uses 800 yards/732 meters of heavy laceweight yarn. Lookfor yarn that has about 800-900 yards per 100gr. The sample is knitted in my Luscious Lace. Pixie knitted up the sample for me in record time. She even had to sort out the chart for the border for me. Thank you Pixie.

Don't forget you're entitled to 10% Sockamania discount on any yarn purchased from my Etsy shop. And i'm offering free shipping in May. All you need to do is tell me you're a Sockamania member during the check out process and i'll refund your 10% via Paypal ifyou've paid or send you a new invoice if you haven't paid. I'm going on holiday tomorrow though so if you want the yarn sent out before I go away you need to order by 6pm UK time today. If not it'll be posted on 20th May. If you want to knit the stole in Luscious Lace then you need 2 skeins. If you choose Merino Lace or Cashmere Lace you'll need one 100gr skeins. Please note that some of the Cashmere Lace skeins listed are less than 100gr.

Happy knitting,

Anni

I'm done

Damned Blogger gave me issues again! I started trying at 11:57pm (NY time) to post but I guess finally posting just after midnight doesn't count, huh? Oh, well, here is the picture of my completed socks anyway. They are fresh off the needles that's why they look so wonky. Can't wait to see May's pattern.