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