Hats Hats Hats and More Hats (cont'd)

It was back on May 6th that I last posted Astrid's bottle-top mutsjes/little hats for charity.  And because not only she but I, too, am now knitting them, it's high-time to post again, to catch up!

First, Astrid:

To begin with, I noticed that I never posted this one after her sheep last post.

How can you resist such a sweet face!

As you can see, I'm bunching "birds of a feather" together.

These are all designs Astrid creates from her creative mind, using solid colors of yarn.

In this case she mixed some of my sock self-striping yarn with her solid yarn.

Again, more of the same.

The sky is the limit when you have endless choices!

See what I mean?

Astrid's creativity astounds me to no end.

Once I am finished with my sock self-striping yarn, I have much to learn from her!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

My mutsjes since starting at the beginning of July: 

My very first mutsje is the one on the bottom-right!  HA.

Because my goal is to use up the leftovers of my sock yarn, I'm grouping the mutsjes together

from each leftover skein.  And in this case, because the socks were for Bruce, 

from my high school "Class of '63," these are in honor of him.

Since these sock yarns are self-striping, it means I don't have to do much,

except to sometimes piece solids from the skeins where I want them to be, if that makes sense.

Again, these are all leftovers from the same skein of self-striping sock yarn,

showing how many variations on a theme are possible.

I was quite surprised when this skein yielded only TWO mutsjes,

until I remembered who the socks were for!  Yup--bigger and longer feet.

Not that you would remember but I made the same Christmas socks for both Ruth (top-right)

and Lynne (bottom-left) from my high school "Class of '63."

Because I had leftovers from 2 skeins of the same yarn, I was lucky to get 7 mutsjes.

I made the executive decision to make a tasseled mutsje whenever I can make more than 3 hats,

in case you wondered.

Last but not least, for now, these are in honor of Diane, from my "Class of '63."

Because her feet are small, I milked the leftovers dry, with nothing to spare!

[The true colors look much more green than shows up here...for her Michigan State status!]

So, does it look like we're having fun yet???????

 

Socks Socks Socks and More Socks (cont'd)

 

Believe it or not, after a year and a half of knitting socks almost non-stop, I'm done...unless/until a new batch pops up, perhaps in the Fall or Winter months ahead?

So, it's time to catch you up on what's been done since the last post, which stopped at my 45th pair.  I've now finished 61 pairs total (122 socks, if we're counting).

46th Pair (for Corrie), finished March 6, 2021

Schachenmayr Regia, #07203, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Here's Corrie's first commissioned pair, choosing this because she says everyone else picks blue.  HA.]

47th Pair (for Dicky), finished March 12, 2021

Opal Freche Freunde, #9760, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[This is neighbor Dicky's second commissioned pair, with wool she chose and bought.

I had made two Thank-You pairs for her previously.]

48th Pair (for Thea), finished March 19, 2021

Opal Black Dragon, #9962, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[This is Thea's second commissioned pair, a variation on her first.]

49th Pair (for Dicky), finished March 26, 2021

Opal Adventure, #9822, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Dicky's 3rd commissioned pair, again with wool she chose and bought, bringing her total to 5.

She said she eventually wants a pair for every day of the week.]

50th Pair (for moi), finished April 4, 2021

Opal Comedy, #9831, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Because this undesignated yarn, which I loved, had been in my stock for weeks/months, 

I decided my 50th pair would be for me, as a landmark pair.  HA!]

51st Pair (for Corrie), finished April 11, 2021

Schachenmayr Regia, #01736, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[This is Corrie's second commissioned pair:  "There is always something to be thankful for."]

52nd Pair (for Bruce), finished April 22, 2021

Opal Adventure, #9825, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Remember my 4 "Class of '63" high-school friends from Michigan for whom I'm knitting Thank-You socks because they've followed me daily on FB for years?  The first were for Diane last year.  These are now for Bruce, who served with both the US Marines and the Navy.  At our 55th reunion in Michigan, 2018, I met up him and Maria, his wife of 21 years, who between them have 4 children and 6 grandchildren.  He and I often don't see eye-to-eye politically but we agree to disagree, with kindness and respect.  I know few people with the kind of service-heart he has for all those around him.  He constantly inspires me.

[Semper Fi.  Always Faithful.  A good motto for all of us!]

53rd Pair (Stherre), finished April 30, 2021

Schachenmayr Pairfect Nordland, #06820, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[This pair was commissioned by one of our knitting members here for her granddaughter, Stherre,

 pronounced STARE-uh.  I haven't met this young lady but hear she's over 6-feet tall, and has, 

thus far, the longest feet I've knitted for a lady, at men's size 44 (11.5 US).

She's only 14 years old!  You go, Girl.]

54th Pair (for Ruth), finished May 10, 2021

Opal Magic Sky, #9803, Germany, 71% wool, 26% polyamide, 3% polyester

[My 3rd "Class of '63" high-school Thank-You pair goes to Ruth (bottom-right, with her wife of 23 years, Leslie).  They live in Arizona where Ruth says she never wears socks, except for when they go Christmas caroling, thus the Christmassy yarn.  Ruth has her PhD in Nursing, spending 50 years in the field before retiring.  

See the 2 thumbnails of us from our senior year, age 17?  

We now joke about how in the right time/place, we could have gone to the prom together.  

How fun is that!]  

55th Pair (for Astrid), finished May 16, 2021

Gründl Arco Hot Socks , #6, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Another pair for Astrid who happened to find this yarn one day and grabbed it.

The color combination really grew on me!]

56th & 57th Pairs (for Ineke and Dries), finished May 23 & 29, 2021

Gründl Lazise Hot Socks , #8, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[This was a "first" for me--a commissioned pair by Ineke (in our knitting group here) for her and Dries' 50th wedding anniversary on June 23.  Another "first" is that because Dries suffered a stroke in 2021, paralyzing his left side, his left foot/sock is one inch longer than his right.  CONGRATULATIONS to this loving couple who are important, core members of our senior-living community here.  

And thanks to Dries for his 2 photos showing their faces and socks!]

58th Pair (for Corrie), finished June 4, 2021

Schachenmayr Pairfect Rainbow Color, #01732, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[One day Corrie sheepishly asked me if I could make her another pair of socks 

because she wanted to have  one pair on on her feet, one pair on the shelf, 

and one pair in the wash.  Don't you love it!  This is her third commissioned pair.]

59th Pair (for Lynne), finished May 20, 2021

Opal Magic Sky, #9803, Germany, 71% wool, 26% polyamide, 3% polyester

[Last but not least, my 4th "Class of '63" high-school Thank-You pair is for Lynne, who majored in Elementary Education at Michigan State, after which she married another of our classmates, Doug, and then taught for several years.  They have 3 children and 7 grandchildren.  The fun thing is that because Doug went to the U. of Michigan, my alma mater, there's a lot of school rivalry in their family (like in my own family).  I love it.  He's the one sitting next to her at our 55th school reunion in 2018.

If the yarn looks familiar, it's because it's the same as what I made for classmate Ruth above!]

60th & 61st Pairs (for sister Ruth), finished June 27 & July 3, 2021

Opal Comedy, #9834, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

Opal Adventure, Germany, #9825, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[So, allowing no extra yarn to lie fallow, here are 2 more footies for Ruth, 

bringing her total to four.]

Not that we're counting, of course, but that makes 37 pairs made in 2020 and 24 in 2021...

thus far.

Guess what I'm doing now with my leftover sock yarn???  I'm knitting mutsjes/ little hats with Astrid.  

Like I said, allowing no yarn to lie fallow!  :D