THANK YOU from Socks Made On 88

THANK YOU!!! We are not only thanking our customers of today, but we thank all of you for your patronage throughout the whole year of 2014!  Hope to see you again at the Historic Farmers' Market, Brewery Square in 2015.  Our first market back in the New Year will be Saturday, January 10, 2015 :-)

Happy Holidays from MrB and MsB

Lower Courtyard location tomorrow for market display

HELLO!

Saturday is market day for us at the Historic Farmers' Market, Brewery Square.  Winter is almost here! Our socks are Hugs for your feet!

Stomp down to the Market Sat. Dec 20, 2014

get a pair of Deranged or Left-Overs Sock Pairs!  Great Gifts!

December 20th, 2014 " Market"

Mark Dec 20th on your calendar.  It's Sock-giving time!

Last chance to buys socks for that special someone!

We will be at the Historic Farmers' Market this Saturday, Dec 20, 2014, 7am-1pm!

  Last market before Christmas and last market of the year 2014, but we will be back again January 10th, 2015.

Thanks to all our Market Customers, yesterday!

Be back again on December 20, 2014!

Find us in the LOWER Courtyard tomorrow at the market!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho or Hi HOHOHO

Socks Made On 88 will be at the market for the month of December, on Dec 6th (tomorrow) and also again on Dec 20, 2014!

Market this Sat. and lots of Left-Overs on hand for your feet!

My Derranged Socks!

I will be wearing these, this Saturday at the Historic Farmers' Market, Brewery Square, Halifax NS, December 6, 2014.

All dressed and ready to go! When is it market time?

So excited to find these treasures today at a local Antique and Collectibles store

Two Shoe Molds, Men's 10 and larger and the other one fits a Women's 9 sock perfectly!

The two shoe molds below standing in front of our sign.  For our Dec.6th Market they will be dressed with socks!

LOWER COURTYARD, find us there this Saturday at the Historic Farmers' Market

Look for this sign at the top of the Upper Courtyard near the Musician Stage pointing to the Lower Courtyard.  We will be down the stairs and towards the door of the Yoga establishment.  The market starts for the public this Sat. Nov 22 at 7am and runs to 1pm.  If you end up having trouble finding us and are in the Upper Courtyard, just ask Amanda of The Humble Burdock Farm or Mercedes of Pickled Pink and either of them will be to direct you to our display area!

Derranged, how they all began!

From these...

To these!

We aren't DERRANGED, but these are!

1st set "Derranged" Socks for Xmas Gift-giving 2014, Pick 2 for a Pair!

Time of Year to use up our Left-Overs again!

MrB has been very busy knitting up our Left-Overs.  Here is a picture of the last of the Men's Left-Overs completed for the Christmas Rush.  We will have them out on our display at the Market for December 6th and December 20th.

Examples of Our, SMO88,  Left-Overs- One of Kind Sock Pairs!

  MrB is also working on getting some our "Derranged" Socks done also.  They will also be available the same above mentioned dates for Christmas Treats!  We made both last year,and they were very much both HITS! Customers have already been asking if we will have both again.  And just to remind you, if you missed my post last year about why these socks are created by Socks Made On 88, I will explain again.  For our left-overs we use are immediate left-overs from making our regular hung-hemmed and ribbed sock pairs.  Then the left-overs of the left-overs are used for our Derranged socks.  The leftover sock pairs have a precise pattern that MrB uses and compiles 6-7 colourways to use to his desired pattern. 

For the Derranged socks in which he makes 4 of one size and the first interested person gets to pick the first 2 socks to make a Derranged Pair!  They are no near the same at all, either of the 4 to choose from.  They are created by winding all the left-overs of the left-overs joined together to get our large balls of yarn! 

 Then MrB just cranks them out one by one adding new balls he has created by one one.  The patterns in the Derranged socks have no rhyme or reason some may have longer patterns occurring than others.  They are simply a mish-mash  of whatever is cranked  out to form the sock! 

Yes MrB is using the 60 cylinder as he is cranking out sizes Women's 6-10  "DERRANGED"  SOCKS!

One Derranged Sock done and on to Derranged Sock #2, you can see the green and orange hung-hemmed cuff!

The wound ball is nearing its end and the next ball will have to be retrieved to finish the 4th sock! SMO88 is proud of our Derranged creations :-)

To all our anxious customers, look for the Left-Over One of Kind and Derranged Socks at our show and sell display on December 6th and December 20, 2014 at the Historic Farmers' Market!  

Our next stint, at the market will be Saturday, November 22, and we will have a larger stock of socks available to choose from.   That stock will include Hung-Hemmed, Ribbed and our Shortie-Tabs.  I will be back closer again toward next Saturday to remind you again, and also let you know of our display location.  The Website and Facebook page of Socks Made On 88, will both be updated also and give you the information you will need to find us.

On November 11th

WE WILL REMEMBER!

MrB and I love our retirement jobs!

MrB is busy cranking, cranking, cranking, knitting, knitting, knitting now till  Dec. 17th or so.  Our last market before Christmas is December 20th!

I have put many hours in myself.  I kitchenered 6 pairs of socks this afternoon and that has become a semi-daily ritual and I very much like to include it in my days. 

Tonight I am busy making an abundance of Sock Tags!  Time to replenish my stock.  I very much love all my duties within Socks Made On 88, and that must be why I enjoy my job because it doesn't seem like work ...it is fun!

And there is no question that MrB loves his job too!  He has many sock pairs to show for his passion.

Thank you, Thank you, to our Market Customers!

We had a great day today at the market, and that is because of YOU!  MrB and I very much appreciate your patronage. Our next market stint will be November 22, 2014.

Socks Made On 88 ~ market tomorrow ~ Look for us in the Lower Courtyard!

Please look for us in the Lower Courtyard at Historic Farmers' Market tomorrow, 7am-1pm~ THANKS!

Chillier Days Ahead!

The last few days the fire has been burning to keep the house warm.
And this is a reminder too, that you can keep your tooties warm by wearing socks from Socks Made On 88. And YES, we will be at the Historic Farmers' Market this coming Saturday, November 8, 2014.

Please look for our neon yellow and green signs.  If we are in the Upper Courtyard the large sign will be directly in front of our display.  If we are in the Lower Courtyard a smaller sign will direct you from the top of the Upper Courtyard. 

When our exact location is determined Friday night, I will then update that location as a post on our facebook page, here at my blog and also a quick note on our website under our "Markets" page.  Thanks so much, keep your eyes peeled!

This is the neon yellow and green sign that will have a red arrow pointed to the Lower Courtyard .... if we are to be there!

This is How, I wash our socks, wash our socks, wash our socks!

Socks in our sock bag from this week,  that I have brought down to the laundry room to wash.

My socks are washed inside out because I have a skin condition on my feet. All our Opal socks are washed in warm  to hot water with liquid detergent.

I put all the socks in a pail once washed.  Then I prepare my wash sink with warm water to rinse them.

This is my second batch of socks!  These ones are of different more delicate yarns like Shelridge, Good Karma, Alisons, Brown Sheep and Lisa Socks. This batch is being washed in Cold water and Cold water rinse too.  We wear all kinds of yarns as you can see. But we mainly just sell OPAL and (Shelridge which is a Canadian Yarn), to our customers.

All of our this weeks socks are washed and rinsed, all in my handy-dandy pail to carry them from the laundry room to our entrance room where the wood fire is burning nicely today!

Socks laying flat on towels by the fire!  Nice and cozy warm. Please note normally they are not this close to the wood fire.  It was just easier to take the blog pic so you could see the wood stove also.  You can notice by the last towel of socks drying, which are mine, that I seemed to have a purple palette going for wear this week.

Look! Our sock bag is all empty now and will soon be awaiting the next week's sock collection.

A Chilly-Willy Morn in NS

It's a chilly- willy morning here in Nova Scotia today.  The wood stove is burning and MrB is cranking away.  Me, MsB is semi-lazy this morning.  It is a good morning though since the wood stove is on, to actually wash all the socks we wore this week.  I hand wash them and then lay them by the fire flat on a towel to dry.  When I get up in the morning I tend to grab the pair of socks laying on the floor first thing in the morning and that is what I did this morning. Now later in the day I got to my two small sock drawers full of socks to choose which ones will be the lucky chosen ones for today.
Look which ones will I pick? 

It was interesting that earlier today I was talking to a friend of mine in Texas.  She asked me if it was chilly here today and I replied yes.  Then to find out it was actually cooler there in Texas. They refer to us, as the NORTH, here in Nova Scotia.  It is 5C here or 41F it was 3C there in Texas.  That actually puts a smile on my face!  Well, my feet are happy for today, and they are getting Hugs from Socks Made On 88. 

If you are any of our market customers reading this entry, we are not at the market today, but we will be there next week!!  And remember to possibly look for us set up in the Lower Courtyard but when I know where we are I will try and remember to post the location here and over at our facebook page too.  Happy Saturday to All near and far!

Which sock pair should I wear today?

Oh!  I think I will pick these ones!

See they do go well with my leisure pants/jammies as it just may be a Jammie-day!

Our location at the Historic Farmers' Market, Halifax NS

The Historic Farmers' Market is our Home for show and sell purposes.  Occasionally our spot gets shifted around to make room for Primary Producers especially when they expand their displays.  Yesterday it happened that we, Socks Made On 88, were located in the Lower Courtyard rather in the Upper Courtyard.  There was added signage, but some of our customers missed that fact that we had to change locations.  For future reference, if we say we are going to be at the market on a certain date, and you do not see us,  please ask other vendors. or if all else fails and you do not see us, please head to Kreative Knits on the way to Mary's Bread Basket. Stop at Kreative Knits and ask Liona where our display is set up, as she manages the locations of the vendors for the market. We will be at the market again on November 8th, and I can not tell you exactly where our location will be but there is a very good chance that we will again be in the Lower Courtyard. Thanks! 

Our Comin' Ashore Boot Socks

This is a custom order for a customer of ours.  I have called them Thigh Highs in the past, but they could be taller in that case.  They are definitely taller than knee highs. MrB calls them our "Comin' Ashore Boot Socks"  so now that name is going to stick!  They were cranked from Opal Rainforest 10, Borneo, Ricky.  They turned out very nice and I am sure L will be very pleased with them.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada!

Next Market appearance for Socks Made On 88 will be October 25, 2014. November market stints will be November 8th and November 22, 2014. You can always check our website under the "market" button for the current market schedule, which is updated frequently!

Kitcherner Status? Queen no.... but maybe Princess!

The other day MrB called me the "Kitchener Queen", and I do not think that I rate that status yet, but that perhaps I am working towards the status of Princess! LOL  

This did, though urge me to tally up approximately how many pairs of socks that I have kitchenered to date.  I say approximately as in the early stages of recording it was not completely accurate, as we were not selling socks, but giving them away to family and keeping them for ourselves first to test them out.

Since MrB first started practicing after receiving the CSM just before Christmas 2011 and now, my calculations are that I have kitchenered 714 pairs of socks times two = 1428 socks + 1 single sock for a replacement that a dog chewed gives a total of 1429 socks.  That is sweet to know as I really did not have any idea of what the total would be. 

We sell our socks on a small scale at a market mainly for our enjoyment and to have a project ongoing to keep us occupied and fulfilled doing something we both love to do!

CHEERS!

Cheers to all of our "Socks Made On 88" customers and 
Cheers to all of you, who follow my blog!

THANK YOU!! 

Loving the Beach and What we do!

Not very often I come to my blog and not post a picture of a pair of socks.  Today is an exception, as we visited one of our favourite Beaches yesterday. It was a very beautiful sunshiny day, September 26, 2014 in our little part of the world. So I wanted to share one beach photo I took.  And although I did not need socks on, as I wore flip flops so that I could put my feet easily in the ocean. MrB, however, did have on a flashy pair of Good Karma socks. 

And today, yet another beautiful afternoon to come.  Plan to sit out in the backyard and sip some wine later, just because :-)  But I do plan to lift my glass and cheer all our wonderful customers.  We just surpassed our two year mark, attending the market we call "HOME".

We have enjoyed this journey to date and look forward to several more years of doing what MrB and I love to do.  The forecast for the remainder of 2014 and 2015 and beyond is a 100% chance of Cranking!

Kitchenering like Crazy!

I have been kitchenering non-stop!  Kitchenering as not working in the kitchen, but grafting sock toes shut.  I went away for a few days to attend my grandson's 1st Birthday.  I came back and MrB had gotten to his stock pile cranking agenda for the Christmas Season.  We are on the ball for the upcoming months. Hurray!

It's always nice too to say that we appreciate our repeat customers!
At our last market we had plenty of sales and the majority of those sales were our returning customers.  Thanks again and we are ever so happy that you are enjoying your "Socks Made On 88" sock pairs.  

Happy Fall to All ~ MsB

Blooming

Roses blooming at our house and Socks blooming too, just in time for our next Market Saturday, September 20, 2014. 

Thanks to our customers of the last market of Sept 6th.  We are now back to twice monthly attendances for September, and onward twice monthly now until the end of April!

Remember to check our website if you need to see the exact dates that we will be at The Historic Famers Market, before venturing out for your market needs.

It is now Sock Season and Christmas gift shopping will be coming up before you know it also. Our socks are sold by your shoe size so knowing your loved one's shoe size is advantageous when purchasing socks from 
Socks Made On 88 !

I'm like a little girl at Christmas waiting...

...when it comes to the anticipation of a yarn order to arrive from Cricket Cove! 

It is one of my favourite things to do within Sock Made On 88, to order the YARN!

I am really liking the new Opal Rain Forest 10 colourways, and can't wait to see them in person.  Then I will be chopping at the bit for MrB to crank some out so I can see them even better!

I am sure that I will not be disappointed, as Opal yarn is our main concentration, and I know our customers are very happy with the outcomes.  Let's see, which colourways tend to be the most popular this time around?

September is here!

Socks Made On 88 will be at the market tomorrow, Sept. 6, 2014.
September is here and we are back to twice monthly attendances.

We are very much looking forward to the fall and winter season of selling socks!  September 20th is the date for our second market stint of September.  Remember to check our website and click the Markets button for our schedule which is always current and up-to date.  Here are some sock pairs, 

we have added lately to our show and sell market display.  The display always has new sock pairs for each attendance.  

There will be shortie-tabbed socks available too!  We will run these in our display till Thanksgiving.  Thereafter, you will have to ask for them, but I will have some on-hand with me at the market tucked away if need be.

It's Back-to-School time and we are hoping that we will have an opportunity to talk to college students as they come to the market to check things out, especially if they are new-comers to Halifax.  Welcome!

The forecast says it is to be another glorious day tomorrow.  We have been lucky to have such nice weather the past few days.  It certainly does not stop MrB and I for wearing our socks so I hope you too find many chances to show off your Socks Made On 88 socks also.