50+ Sock Patterns From 50+ States

This came to me from Tina Sanders of the Phoenix Knitting and Crochet Examiner. And how cool is this! Available from Crystal Palace Yarns, a DVD featuring sock patterns from the 50 states, plus Canadian Provinces as well as some US Territories.

Here’s what Crystal Palace says:

50 Socks – 50 States plus Canada, Mexico and Territories (58 sock patterns)

A Sock Book on a CD! (both PC and Mac versions)
Suggested retail is $24.95 for 58 sock patterns and special pages of Fun Facts for each state plus Canada, Mexico and several US Territories. Knit and Learn at the same time.

Check at your local knitting shops or favorite online shops in early January 2010.

Dr. Laura Andersson and editors have put together this collection from sock designers gleaned from all over the internet. A monumental task and a wonderful collection of sock designs for all levels and gauges.

The photos show the states and areas in alphabetical order (click to make bigger).

All socks are knit in Crystal Palace Yarns. All socks are photographed by Susan Druding showing several views and close-ups of each sock. http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns2/socks/50SocksBook.html

Next Pattern:

I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?