Underwhelmed by hand-dyeds?

Newish topic at [tag]Knitter’s Review Forums[/tag]. This topic has generated quite a few posts concerning [tag]hand-painted yarns[/tag].

One post dated 06/28/2007Â is from Margaret of [tag]Inspirations Yarn.[/tag]

“I can’t speak to anyone elses technique or motivation but I can tell you that I started this business because I love to work with fibers and color. I wanted to do something creative that would be my job and that involved yarn. Lacking the capital necessary to start a brick and mortar yarn shop and with a love for knitting, spinning and dyeing, a handpainted yarn shop online seemed a natural fit”.

Margaret goes on to write about the time, money, and effort that hand dyers of yarn spend on their products.Â Many of the posters have valid points in the fact that some dyers are “me too” hobbyist types and not really in it for the long run and consequently do not use quality yarns and dyes.Â It is consumer beware as it is in all purchases.

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

Have you read?

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