Book Review – Operation Sock Drawer: The Guide to Building Your Stash of Hand-Knit Socks

Knit yourself a drawer of beautiful socks with the Knitmore Girls

Inspired by the gorgeous sock drawers of Susan B. Anderson, Jasmin and Gigi of The Knitmore Girls podcast started the hashtag #operationsockdrawer in an effort to knit a collection of socks just as photo worthy. Tens of thousands of knitters have since joined the campaign to knit more pretty socks and the hashtag has grown to more than 200k tags on social media.

Think of Operation Sock Drawer as your sock knitting survival guide. In it you’ll find:

• 20 original designer sock patterns–more than enough to fill your first drawer.
• Great how-ton information on knitting a variety of toe shapes, heel styles, options for comfortable ankles, and more!
• Darn it! Don’t toss old socks, repair them with simple darning techniques.
• Bonus information on knitting socks two at a time, how to make great yarn to pattern matches, and how to overcome second sock syndrome.
Grab your needles and a skein of yarn, and then join The Knitmore Girls on their mission to expand sock collections around the globe.

Next Pattern:

I happen to live in the Northern Hemisphere, but I know we have a lot of Southern Hemisphere friends, too, who are heading into the cooler months as we are warming up. Whichever one of the seasons you’re in, you might want to stitch up this sweet little hood.

This pattern by saskie&co is called snug hood and it uses two colors of yarn to make a close-fitting pixie style hood (almost a balaclava but it doesn’t cover your face, though there is a neck covering portion to keep you a little warmer). You can use the fingering weight wool and mohair held together that are called for in the pattern, or use a single strand of DK weight yarn.

The neck portion and the edging around the face are worked in ribbing in a single color, while the body of the hat includes an allover colorwork flower pattern. The project is worked both flat and in the round and there is colorwork that is knit flat, which means you’ll have to purl in colorwork (which some people don’t like; also, you can’t see what you’re doing as well on the back of the work).

The pattern comes in one size and the colorwork is charted. Testers noted this is a quick and easy project and a great way to learn some new skills (chart reading, working stranded colorwork flat) if you’ve never tried those things before. They noted the hood is cute, comfortable and warm, and a few said it didn’t take as much yarn as the pattern suggests, so bear that in mind if you’re trying to use stash.

Speaking of the pattern notes, check out all the cute color variations in the projects on Ravelry. From pink and red to blue and white to gray and cream, there are lots of great options to think about.

You can buy this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: saskie&co]

Next Pattern:

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