Bed Socks

I started this post two months ago, but I couldn't publish it because the girls would have seen it, and would have seen what they were getting for Christmas.  I got the idea for making bed socks back in September, when we had a cold snap.  I got in bed one night, and I just couldn't go to sleep because even though the rest of my body was warm enough, my little piggies were about to freeze off.  But it was September, and putting an extra blanket on the bed would mean I was a wuss.  It would also have meant getting out of bed to find another blanket.  So instead I put on a pair of angora/merino socks I had knit the previous summer.  My toes were instantly warm and I was almost as instantly asleep.

I thought the girls might enjoy some angora bed socks this winter.  Now bed socks differ from regular socks in a couple of important ways.  They are knit with heavier yarn on larger needles, so the project goes a lot more quickly.   I used some angora fiber that had little mats and tangles, so the yarn wasn't uniform.  Bed socks are not meant to be worn with shoes.  With the mats and the looser knit, they would be really uncomfortable.

So I chose some merino dyed in a color I didn't like and spun it up.

Merino roving in a color I didn't like.

 

Angora fiber dyed first and then carded on a drum carder.

 

I spun and plied the two together.  They were a really ugly blend.

 

I then over-dyed the yarn with some leftover dye.  I liked this color much better.  

I cast on beginning at the toes so that I could use all of the yarn without worrying about using too much and running out for the next sock. 

  

Charlotte's socks.  I have not been able to figure out how to get this photo centered, but now as I type a longer caption, it is moving.  Weird.



  



I tried captioning the above photo as Lydia's socks, but every time I tried, the photo disappeared.  It's late, and I got tired of playing that game, so here is the photo without the caption. 

Anyway, each sock took about 80 yards of yarn.  I used US4 needles.  And to keep it a surprise, I had to guess as to whether I was getting the size right for each girl.  Lydia's were a perfect fit.  I have to re-do Charlotte's.  :(  Lydia has been wearing hers every night.  Charlotte is getting impatient for me to get moving on hers.