Our way of using yarn left-overs!

Here we have it!  Yarn left-overs made in 2 pairs of socks.  MrB calls them OOAK!

2 pairs shown here great for trekking around Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada!

This pair goes hand and hand with the back roads maps!

And this pair couples with the Scarecrow Book...oh my how they would be great to attend the Scarcrow Festival!

OOAK short for: (One Of A Kind).  And again you are going to hear my praises as I just LOVE them to bits! If you are going to be the lucky person to own one of these pairs, no one will ever have the same pair as you! Our socks are Hugs to your feet!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Fortissima ~ Red focus colour

Red, Orange, Purple,  3 of my favourite sock yarn colours! But to me Red stands out the most!

Ok when thinking RED, what came to mind when walking around my house?  Well two things came to my mind, Lighthouses and Wine!  So here they both are; I can envision walking to a lighthouse and taking some wine for a picnic.  What better idea than having your socks go well with your wine label!  Homemade wine at that!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Fortissima Fun and Sun Seekers

Just in time for Spring, Fortissima Fun and Sun Seekers!  Perfect pairs to seek adventure looking for flowers and birds and other signs of spring approaching.

msb from Socks Made On 88

MrB's Monday Accomplishments

Just look at the work I am going to have soon.....MrB made 3 pairs of socks today.  They are still on the CSM, as he is going to be cranking out more again tomorrow.

Sooner or later I will get them to do the kitchener stitching on, wash them, dry them and tag them. I just wanted to show you another string of socks, as it has been awhile since I have posted some. So there will be a red and purple stripe pair, a green/blue pair and a off white, blue coral pair for what I can see here.  I will be able to get a better look of all the 3 pairs once they are completed.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Let's go GREEN!

Green socks shown with one of MrB's fine Orchids!

               Let's go GREEN for the Environment and for St. Patrick's Day! A short and simple message for this shades of green pair.

Have a great weekend everyone....we are taking a weekend break ourselves and will catch up with you the first of the week.

msb from Socks Made on 88 

Puzzling how these ones take you down memory lane

Yes it is puzzling how this pair takes us down memory lane. Notice how I tried to find a puzzle in our collection that actually has a lane or road in the featured picture.  These socks, from Socks Made On 88, are calling out MrB's name this time as he really likes these colours and stripes.  Colours of blue, green, off white and burgundy, many colours that MrB keeps active in his manly wardwore.  He made them a size 9 so he wouldn't keep them, but I think he likes them so much that a size 10 is not long on the horizon to be cranked- out soon  for himself!  These colours are soft and could easily be pictured on some gentleman with a walking stick  heading out to investigate a small village perhaps in Scotland or England. I bet my dear ole Grandpa Tom who came here from Scotland, and who is no longer with us, would love this particular pair of socks too! I loved when he told me stories of Scotland that took himself down memory lane, as he was so proud of his heritage and the history he spoke of. It is so cool for me, to capture a vision or story in every pair of socks made in our little venture.  I think too its makes my blog more personal too, as I am capturing the socks and little pieces of me also.  It's all interwoven like the yarn that is used to make a pair of socks.... my blog too is interwoven to tell a two-fold story!

msb from Socks Made On 88

I call these Down Home Country Stripes

Oh MrB was thinking when he made this pair a size7, because that means I can not snatch them for myself, as I need a size 8!  I call these Down Home Country Stripes, my colours, absolutely!  And since I was a country-gal, born and raised on a small farm in Saskatchewan you can never take the Country out of this gal.  I have not lived on a farm since I left as a girl at 18 years of age, but the memories I have of that time are never forgotten.  I am so thankful that we have another ball of this yarn.....as I am going to stick my name on it!  Do you think that will give MrB a hint?  Well my birthday is coming up in April, hint hint.  My Ole Down Home Country Scarecrow thinks these are pretty great also.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Fortissima X 2 = Purple Pleasures + Lavender

These socks do come in pairs....they are just not shown here in pairs.  Both of them highlight different shades of purple and other contrasting colours also.  Both would be great to slip into your crocs and run out to the herb patch by the back door like we have, and snip off some sweet scented lavender.  Of these two different socks the ones on my right are my absolute favs of the two!  What I like about them is that they are earthy with grey and brown but then the purple adds a funky flair.  The other ones and more blue and purple, and brighter but both very nice indeed!  

msb from Socks Made On 88

Opal Maskenball Pink ......Anyone for tea?

More socks with pink...and I can say pinks are not my favourites! But pink does remind of me of little girls.  I never had any little girls but I was one, many moons ago :-)  I think when I look at pink socks they make me think and wonder if perhaps someday if I or we will ever have any grandaughters or great grand daughters.  This pair is bright and modern and I can picture a girl or women wearing them to show them off to her granny, sit down and have  some milk or tea in a teacup and enjoy the freshly baked cookies.  (The cookies here are wax.)  I think I read somewhere that pink socks sell the fastest, or one of my CSM friends told me that.....we will surely find out soon enough when we head off to market.

msb from Socks Made on 88

Opal the 4th Neon Colour with Raggety Ann

Here is a sample of the 4th Opal shade of yarn in this pair of socks,with my old Raggety Ann . As like all the Opal Neons shades this one is bright and funky too. It reminds me of youth and skipping and being carefree.  Perhaps I should have had a Arrietty Doll to be the sign of the times.  I see that movie is playing now in February of 2012!  I think this is my favourite of the 4 Neon shades.  To see the other 3 shades they are shown on the opening picture of our socks hanging on the line.  They are the 3 sock pairs to the left.  This is my favourite because I am so much a lover of Orange!  That is why I picked Raggety Ann with her bright Orange hair to help me show off this sock!  Unfortunately I am limited here with my type colours and there is not a nice bright orange like I would like to have. 

It is clear that I am not going to be able to capture the true colours in this pair.

The bright orange is not showing up.  It is appearing more red or pink instead of orange and pink! Oh well....

msb from Socks Made On 88 

Regia~ Colour is called Cinema

What better way to show off these beauties!  We got a camera (old- fashioned one at that) popcorn and socks!  What else do we need?

msb from Socks Made On 88

Regia Yarn ~ Eskimo/Inuit Colour

This pair of socks is from Regia yarn.  First time for MrB using it, very nice yarn, and very nice pattern of the socks but I do not like the colour name!  You will notice that have added /Inuit to it.  It was the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 in which we recognized Inuit as the distinctive group of Aborginal people in Canada.  The colour is obviously to depict the North!  I wanted a picture to symbolize the north as well and here we do not even have any snow to gather for a picture, so ice cubes were the next best thing!  I really really like these socks!  They may be my # 1 pick so far!

Quick Tip when Kitchenering

Although I am still fairly new at Kitchenering I feel that I have had enough practise put a system in use.   In the evening after MrB has had a successful day cranking out socks, there is usually a sting of socks waiting for me to get at after supper.  It's later in the day, I have a portable light that I take with me to the lazy-boy chair and settle in, get comfortable, have my little tin of needles and small pair of scissors.  One thing missing?  I have discovered to put a piece of magnet on my tin, and then when I have to cut or put my hands into the sock, I can set my needle on the magnet on my tin.  MrB said why dontI use my pincushion but one thing I think it would fall off the arm of the arm and the other thing is that some of the needles I use to pull off the waste yarn and big and dull.  I have found in the last couple of days, the magnet has definitely improved my system and has now become a must when I sit down to do my kitchenering!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Pro Lana again, crystal clearly a good choice!

When I say that this pair is Crystal clearly a good choice, I would like to brag that they are being displayed with our very own Nova Scotia Crystal!  These socks would be good for tramping just about any where and a perfect compliment to jeans or capris.  How am I going to remember all the pairs that are on my favourites list?  Oh yes, I will have my blog to refer back to.....it is proving to be a valuable tool for me too.  


msb from Socks Made on 88

Pro Lana Socks staged with Antique Washboard!

First time MrB knitted/cranked with Pro Lana Yarn!  The colours are vibrant with Purple and Orange!  There is no wishy- washy about this pair.  Well actually I did just wash them and they need to be laid out flat to dry by the wood fire.  And I need to go sit on my lazy boy recliner, sip some wine and enjoy the rest of the evening. I will catch up again with you for the next pair to be kitchenered and staged for its photo opt for the blog tomorrow. Good night all.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Posting just for fun....S is for Spring, Sons and Socks!

Posting this just for fun!  Spring, Sons and Socks!

The spring part is because the sun is appearing off and on today, as I sit at my computer updating things here on my blog, posting over on my favourite Ravelry group which is the Erlbacher Gearhart Group, and periodically glancing out the window as I can it outdoors very clearly from my desk in the computer room. I can see the robins in the gardens.   This flower is on a quilt that my mother made for me, and I just love it!  It has many different types and colours of flowers on it.  This one just reminds me of Spring and I really like the colour of purple!  The picture that I placed beside or part of the flower is a picture my son drew when he was in grade 5 and he called it "the stinky sock".  I have kept that picture of his sock on my bulletin board all these years and I would look at it and smile!  Once we started making socks I thought I could use the picture some how...  I framed it and never did use it effectively, so today I decided to take a picture of it and creatively come with a picture as it says bright and sunny and reminds of my son too!  My son lives in Northern Alberta so I don't get to see him often, but I do think of him very often.  Guess he was on my mind today for some reason or other, or at least the picture that he drew so many years ago, captured my attention!  I am happy to have the picture here now.  The stinky ole sock!

I washed many a stinky ole sock in my days,  as my boys were involved in sports of all kinds!  Oh and that reminds me too, of a many ole lonely sock that was always found under the bed or in between the couch cushions, or in the laundry basket wondering where it's mate was? And I forgot to mention also the holey socks too!  The boys always took great pride of wanting to throw them in the wood stove and watching them burn.  It was like a ritual for them.  You would have never thought I would be blogging about silly sock memories.....and here I am doing just that.  There are so many kinds of socks really when you stop and think about it.  Do you remember Bobby Socks?  I had some crisp white ones with fancy little decals of flowers or whatever on them.  I had some too with lace on them!  They looked really cool with my black and white oxford shoes.  Ok I am dating myself here.  But I know some of you will remember them also.  You had to have at least one pair of wool socks for skating, skidooing and tobogganing, as they kept your feet warm with those cold winters in Saskatchewan where I grew up.  Well I have mentioned, stinky socks, lonely socks, holey socks, Bobby socks, and wool socks!  There are many more kinds of socks also.  Actually too many more to write about here today.  So my little impromptu post and picture ended up to a lengthy post after all.  For those of you who know me, that shouldn't be surprising as I have diareha of the typing fingers when I get rambling along... 

So time now to end this and just say Have a great weekend Everyone! And if nothing else throw a little bit of fun into your day....and you could always think of some of your past silly sock memories too!  I am sure all of you have had at least one pair of  Favourite Socks over your years.  

msb from Socks Made on 88   

Washing our Socks and Oil Spot Removal

The machines require a fair bit to even a lot of oil to keep it running smoothly and crank on a steady hum!  Up until recently, when MrB chose to use light coloured yarn for some solids to try out a new pattern, we did not think oil would get on the socks.  Oh no!  Will it come out of the socks when they are washed?

Well first of all let me tell you that it has been suggested to me, to wash all the socks by hand first in hot water and do 3-4 hot water rinses to get any wax and excess dye out.  I have found that dark blues, reds, and oranges seem to have dye coming out in the wash water.  I just keep rinsing until I see that the rinse water is all clear and clean.  i usually end the whole washing process by giving one last cold rinse, wring them out as much as I can with getting most of the excess moisture out.  I lay them flat to dry in front of the wood fire. The socks that MrB and I own from the ones he has cranked-out I usually just slip in the washer and dryer as I want to see how they do!  There will be some customers who don't want to bother to hand wash their socks and lay them flat.  Then there will be some who will take the utmost care is whatever they have do to preserve the life of their treasured socks.  I have hand washed and machine washed and to date I have not noticed any shrinking or stretching in any of the socks we have made.  We are using a varities of sock yarns.  We have tried, Patons Kroys, Elann Sock it to Me, Confetti, Online, Phildar, Strumppfwolle and other sockenwolles unmarked, Savanna, Opal, Fortimissa, and soon to be trying Pro Lana and Regia also.  So far good results with all of them washing and drying.

So the answer to the question of taking oil spots from light coloured and pale colours of yarn used for our socks, is that I have found squirting some dish washing soap/detergent on the spots that are oil spotted and give it a little elbow grease and washing them in the washer with some laundry soap and more dish soap did work for me.  I did not put these socks in the dryer , I Iet them dry flat on a towel in front of the wood fire.  I usually like to turn them at least once so the moister side gets some heat too!  We have vanilla and pale pink sock pairs and the vanilla ones were covered in oil, but thankfully they did all come clean in the wash!  Phew, what a nice relief.....  I was worried as they weren't even MY size!

So the moral of that story is ......Dish Soap seems to do the trick!  I wanted to add this as another tidbit to help anyone out who is also faced with this in their sock- making learning curve.  I have posted this question on the EG sock group so I will see what others have to say also about removing Oil spots!  If there is another common agent used to bring success I will certainly update you here! Happy Cranking and Happy Oil Spot Washing too!

msb from Socks Made On 88

His and Hers...ready for Adventure take 2, Set #2

Adventure time awaits .... His and Her time to explore, but where?Just love the colours and stripes!  But if you haven't already guessed, me, msb,I love them all!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Testing blog print size?

I tested the size of print in the last blog entry.  I made it larger.  I think I like it better!
If anyone would like to tell me if they too like it better then glad to hear your comments on that, Thank you.

msb from Socks Made on *88

Tidbit of Info, Size colour coding

I wanted to add this little tidbit of information for anyone is a newbie like we are, as we are learning as we go!  When you are making more than one pair of socks at time and especially when the sock has to pass another set of hands or your own set of hands more than once, you need a system!  MrB came up with the idea of having different coloured yarn strands on each pair of socks to mark the size.  For example we use red for Mens 10, yellow for womens 8, green for womens 7 and orange then for mens 9 or 11 not sure on that one!  Then once MrB gives them to me to kitchener and I have socks the same colourway I know which ones are which when doing his and hers, and also when I take them to hand wash them and once they are dried I know exactly what size they are, to attach our sock tags.  I  will leave the colour size yarn marker on them to go to market too and then if someone holds up a pair I will know what size it is without even seeing the tag!  So far so good, this system seems to be working for us.  So it may work for you too if you need a system like this!  We are very glad to share ideas with you.

msb from Socks Made On 88

PS
Have you noticed that I mainly  like to type in GREEN as our colours are centering around the Erl colours of  Green and Yellow ( Gold here as Yellow doesn't show up too good)  We have Yellow business cards and I underline our Name on our Sock tags with Yellow Highlighter! 

Denim match ups, Men's 10

This pair is calling out, to match up with Denium, rugged or not!
Remember:  Our Socks are Hugs for your feet!   No matter what task you are doing.
msb from Socks Made On 88 

His and Hers....ready for Adventure! Set #1

These His and Hers pairs are definitely ready to go for some adventure!  And I think MrB has another set in the make too!
I will post this first pair now as Set #1 and then later another pair will show up as Set #2.

As much as I love the bright and funky colours, I too love some solids and the down- to- earthy ones too!  These would fit into the down-to earthy category!  Wouldn't you agree?

msb from Socks Made On 88

Pattern for Pyramid Stitch and More Patterns

Since I posted the pictures of the solid pale pink and vanilla pairs of socks, I have had several inquiries as to where people can get that pattern?

We got the pattern from the CD we purchased, called, "SockMachine Knitting~ First 10 years of Patterns from Yellow River Station.  You can access their web site and order the CD from their product section.  Go to: www.yrstation.com .  You are ordering the CD from Bonnie and John Smola.  Please note that there are probably 25-30 patterns on this CD.  many other patterns on the CD look awesome also.  These patterns are taken from past issues of the newsletters that they also sell and are issued 4 times a year at a minimal cost.   Happy Cranking!


msb from Socks Made On 88

Today just call me....Networking Nelly!

One of the most favourite parts of my new job in SOCKS MADE ON 88 is the networking part!  I get to sit by my computer still in my jammies and housecoat and reach out to other CSMers and or ERL owners, to learn and to develop friendships.  I was so excited to have messages awaiting me this morning from two people at Rav Both of these people read my blog and that excites me even more.  From the onset of starting this little venture mid November, 2011 upon ordering our Erl I have kept a networking booklet.  Today it is my project to better update the pages so I know who is who!  Who is who is very important to ME!  I like to know who I am talking to, where they live, if they have an Erl what # it is etc.  Guess I can kind of be anal that way, tracking trivia things as MrB would say.  He would say I am taking up valuable brain space and I tell him that my brain to made that way to hold that kind of information!  I get much pleasure out of doing these kinds of projects, and this is what I have picked to work on for this fine day.  I am a very organized person so this project does not need a lot of work just some updating, fine tuning and modifying.  I am also trying to connect a couple gals in the same state so that they may have their own liltte networking going on.  I envy those who can do this, as we do not have many people close here to reap the benefits of getting together and learning from each other.  My blog is proving to be a learning too for some others and a way that people keep in contact with me or us and can at least have some  virtual networking enhanced by other existing groups also.  I find it very personable to meet people online and carry those conversations on elsewhere by messaging or emails!  You never know when you will actually  cross paths with some of these new CSM friends in years to come!  And when I do, I will know exactly who they are and not to confuse them with any one else!  I love all my new friends!  So as i go grab my Networking Nelly hat for the morning.....here's msb reporting to all of you and saying , HAVE A GREAT DAY FRIENDS!, Old friends, new friends and friends yet undiscovered!


The only way to have a friend is to be one!  Ralph Waldo Emerson

msb from Socks Made On 88

Pink Pyramid Solids Socks

Pretty in Pink....another solid choice by MrB to show off this unique very nice Pyramid pattern!  The softness of this pale pink certainly gives credit to the pattern and I am sure any pink-lover will want to add these to her wardrobe of socks.  These are ones that can be ordinary or classy ....you make the pick... in pink! They remind of soft pink rose petals, and here the angel is holding a rose bud!

Pyramid Solids of French Vanilla

Come frolic in these French Vanilla Pyramid Solid Socks.  They are delicate and angelic-like and will go with anything you decide to pair them up with..MrB captured the pattern which shows up nicely with this solid choice. 

Diamonds for Valentine's Day!

Me being goofy, showing off my new socks and I wanted a somewhat updated creative profile pic for ravelry.com

Display for Valentine's Day.... Diamond (Pyramid) Patterned Socks! I just LOVE them!

Diamonds for Valentine's Day you say!  Yup try these on for size, that is these socks I mean.  MrB out did himself when creating these ones!  I just LOVE them and they are all mine.  I was so excited to get them washed, dried, and put a sock tag on them for market.  I thought of a creative way to display them here, took their picture, took my ring off and put it in the box and was already to post it tomorrow on the 14th and then today MrB says the socks are for me for Valentine's Day!  So we can see, I can actually say I got diamonds for Valentine's Day, I got diamonds on my socks.  They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I can say my SOCKS are my best friends!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Preemie Hat

We were not sure if this hat was correct Preemie size or not but it sure does fit Irwin, the Cabbage Patch Doll of the 1980's, very nicely! This was a test!  MrB used some acrylic yarn we had as he also wanted to see how Brigadier 88 acted when asked to knit it.  I think it passed the test! This was a first attempt and we are not sure how the Preemie hat is actually suppose to look but for a doll it will surfice!


msb from Socks Made On 88

Wooden Walnut Ring

Wooden Walnut Ring

On its side

The sock will go through this ring.  It has to be determined yet by MrB if  the size is correct and if it will act like he wants it to when it is used to hold of the soft weights in sock while on the machine.  I must admit it looks better than the pill bottle minus the bottom, for what he was using prior to coming up with this idea!

Here I have shown the ring pulled through the sock as it would be if it was on the cylinder.  This ring will hold up the soft weight when its in the sock.  The ring will move down further towards the floor as the string of socks grows as MrB keeps on cranking.

TOOLS made by MrBCranker.... No MrBLather

This is a latch hook tool in which MrB used one cylinder needle from the Erl and handmade a wooden handle for it from the lathe.  This tool is used very often and comes in handy.  I have seen MrB use this tool many times already!

These are two wood picking tools purchased from Lee Valley that MrB modified to meet his knitting needs. The tips were heated and bent and made so, to access the yarn more accessibily to meet MrB's needs in sock- making

This tool was originally sent to us with the Erl from the Erlbacher Gearhart Knitting Company, but unfortunately it had been glued twice and MrB decided it was one of his most favourite tools that it needed a more permanent handle!  So to the lathe he did go and he turned off a very nice purple- heart wooden handle and glued the two picked ends in place within the handle.  It does look very impressive and the handle itself feels smooth and nice to grab!  Here's hoping that this great tool will now last for many more grabs and picks for dropped stitches or yarn that needs to put in it's place by MrB. Good handy work MrB, this will be a small accomplishment that will go along with the Erl for days to come!  I am thinking that you should etch the month and the year on to it, as someday it may even become part of your family history for your sons to pass along as well as some socking- making stories!

Here they are, the hands of MrB creating what he intends to make, some wooden RINGS to assist in his sock-making process while the knitted sock tubes go through the cylinder and hang towards the floor.  I have mentioned before in posts that soft weights aid in this process and these rings that MrB is creating will also help the soft weights too in the whole sock- making knitting process. The wood MrB is using to make these particular rings, is from a branch of one of  our very own Walnut trees that stands in the backyard,  that lost some limbs in Hurricane Earl that passed through September 2010! MrB saved some of the fallen walnut limbs.   Oh My how fitting is that, that the this mere Walnut wood fell because of an Earl and now is to aid our very own Erl, Brigadier 88 and MrB in this sock-making adventure.  Now here is another gadget that has it's own little story to carry on.  Looks like history is in the making more ways than one for Socks Made on 88 as you have the machine itself, Brigadier 88, and tools and gadgets too by MrB!

MrB came to me this morning with a great idea!  He suggested that I could take pictures of the tools he has modified to aid him in the art of his sock-making adventure.  I thought that was a fabulous idea indeed.  Then he proceeded to tell me that he will be in his tinker room working on his lathe to create another new construction to help him out on our Erl. Brigadier 88 with have some assistance with these new rings that MrB is turning .Well as you can see just above this blurp that MrB is working hard on the lathe and I have captured his hands in the process!  I have also posted pictures of the TOOLS that were modified or adapted.  What a great idea you had MrB and I am glad you suggested this to me.  It makes me proud to share these on my blog, and it makes me proud that you too are actively thinking of things to add to the blog also.  I am sure our followers are going to enjoy seeing these latest pictures and your handy dandy ideas made right in your tinker room to help with our CSM Venture~  Socks Made On 88! I will have post picture of the wooden rings at a later time, once they are completed and tested.  We both are surely having lots of fun with this venture and it is also so much fun sharing it with you!


msb from Socks Made On 88

Socks colour Tropics from Fortissima

The colour of this yarn used to make these socks is called Tropics!  What better way to show the tropics than with a beach wrap, sipping glass, and sunglasses!  Not that you would need your German superwash wool socks there, but a great splash of colour to liven up a dull winter! Pull up these socks and be dreaming of the tropics and remember too, Our socks are Hugs for your feet!  

Fortissima Yarn ~ Colour Tropics

msb from Socks Made on 88

Men's Great Outdoors

I call this pair the the Great Outdoorsy ones!  Thought I would display them with my little rabbit friend that adorns our front entranceway ready to welcome Spring.  The darker earth shades in these colours cry out, take me outside, walking, hiking, biking, climbing...you name it !  Some man is going to be very lucky to own these ones.  They are my absolute favourites, but too bad I don't have a size 10 man's foot!

msb from Socks Made On 88
 

Opal Continent Yarn our versions

We dont have all the Continent choices but we have made socks from Africa, Australia and Europe, with America to follow at a later date.

Europe

Australia

Our Africa pair is just past mid range on the clothesline hanging featuring just after our opening intro of the blog.  Here I am putting up two photos of Australia and Europe.  MrB made the Austrailia pair in a women's 8 and the Europe pair is a men's 10.  These would be good socks for globe trotting indeed! 

msb from Socks Made On 88

Toe After Pictures

I am pointing at the invisble seam after stitching the toe together.

Tada the toe is complete!

A closer view that the toe looks ready to go to be washed and dried now.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Toe Before

Here is a photo of a pair of socks with the open toes ready to be closed with the kitchener stitching!
This pair of socks is made from Opal Australia!  What a unigue pattern they do have, and you too will see them more closely when the toes after been closed and the sock then will be completed.  I must go right now and start that task of doing the kitchening stitching on them and then I take their picture to show the Before and After!  Then I as mentioned earlier it is my duty to get these 3 pairs washed and dried and then they will be prepared to be tagged your it, for market!

BEFORE!  Toes shown open and socks inside out. Waste yarn and project yarn attached ready to be kitchenered by msb!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Sock stuff to wind down the end of the week and wind up things for market

And I call these the Aqua Marine gals.

1. I call these the Wildlife Camos

I need to kitchener one pair, wash 3-4 pairs, and take pictures of some of the pairs!  I would imagine that MrB will eventually be getting around to crank out a pair or two today ....if his kitchen schedule allows him too.  I found out that the market date changed for the month of March but that is OK, as I think we will use that date for our target date for our first market regardless!  So now I am getting excited and waiting for all the other market information and questions that I have asked my friend who is in charge of that market.  So other than winding waste yarn and yarn for cranking we are winding down all the sock stuff soon to be the end of this week, and winding up for the anticipation of our very first market in a month from today! Hurray!  I am attaching pictures of what I call the Aqua Marine gals and Wildlife Camos as the pictures of our latest socks say so much more than words can.  Happy Friday!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Sock trio success today for MrB

Sock trio success today by MrB indeed, he made 3 pairs of socks today in I think 4 hours or less!  The string of socks are still on the CSM~ Circular Sock Machine so no pictures tonight!  I will take another picture when they are all done, stitched. washed and dry.  Oh I would like mention MrB got another pair made last night also....a cool grey Europe blend of colour for a man!  I was busy printing sock tags, attaching them and printing off some business cards and designing some display signs for when we go off to market.  I got everything looking the way I wanted them to in the end, so I am pleased with my progress today also.

msb from Socks Made on 88

Sock Colours catering to Men!

Men's Socks, three pairs that I call Earthy, Conservative with splash of colour dare, and Conservative tweed!  It's hard to know how daring with colours we should go, as our potential male customers may only venture to Conservative from traditional solids?  Our first Market selling will give us a better idea and test on this.  We will have several EARTHY choices and I hope that they will be good sellers for Men!


msb from Socks Made On 88

From Sock Wraps to Sock Tags!

As my topic heading says, From Sock Wraps to Sock Tags,
we have already evolved to a new system.  Now that MrB is cranking out more socks and therefore there are more socks to be washed and dried too.We needed a system for this and for that and just makes the flow of progress evolve in more simplistic ways.  I was so proud of myself designing our very own sock wraps.  Then we come to find out with even after taking the socks out of the paper wraps a few times, they were beginning to rip.  So back to the drawing board, and to put on our thinking caps!  We didn't want to attach a business card and another card or paper giving the washing instructions, what they are made of etc as that would be too bulky and waste too much paper!  MrB is very GREEN conscience and so we came up with a combo tag of business information, washing and drying instructions, and made of!  Thanks to JrS for his techie help getting a template set up and running last night for me.  This morning I ran off some of tags and attached to the socks that are raring to go off to a Spring Market!  Here are socks and tags all lined up!  I do like the look of the tags we have now created compared to the wraps.  This was a positive decision made for the betterment of us and our future sock buying customers.  The socks will be easily accessible to look at see the size, feel them and read all the information on the tag with a good glance.  We also came up with a colour coding system for sizes so that when I hand wash them the first time and lay them flat to dry we know exactly what colour matches what size when we later need to attach the sock tags!  For example a Women's size 8 will always have a yellow piece of yarn on each sock!
MrB usually takes the weekend off , Saturday and Sunday, but the bug must have bitten him bad, as I think he worked some of both days on the business and in sock making! :-)  I think it is time that I need to throw out some more kudos to him, as he is doing a wonderful job!  I have two pairs of socks waiting for me to be kitchenered, and he has already cranked out another sock for another pair he is working on today.  I love seeing all the patterns and striping effects take place as he cranks out socks to make a string before they are taken off the cylinder and completed.  Each pair of socks has its own individual character and charm!  And as I have mentioned before, I just LOVE them all!  

msb from Socks Made On 88

Africa hand dyed Opal

This pair of Africa striped socks look amazing!  I love all the shades of colour together!  Ok I am having a very hard time as I would like to keep every single pair of socks for myself. MrB advises me that is NOT going to happen as he is working towards his sock pair stash for a spring market!  So instead of keeping them I take pictures of them, and say to myself, oh my I really do like those ones!  I will put the sock wrap on them and get them ready for the market, and write our signature note on the back of the wrap which says, "Our Socks are Hugs for your feet!"   ~ msb from Socks Made On 88

fr

Opal Neons ~ 2 pair

The new Yarn, Opal Neon is very colourful and socks are fun and funky!  They certainly brighten a dull winter day.