Socks for Joe

Finally.  I finally finished February’s socks and even though they went overtime, I don’t feel badly about it.  As Meaghan, Heather and Marsha (and a few others) pointed out in the comments, they’re big socks and February is the shortest month and that was a loser’s game from the start.  If Joe’s feet were shorter and the month were longer, I would have nailed it. 

"It’s Tea Time" socks, from Around the World in Knitted Socks , Cherry Tree Hill supersock solids in Bark. 

Joe thinks they’re fantastic, because they meet all of his criteria for socks.  Joe likes socks to be a neutral colour. This category is slightly more expansive than you think. It naturally includes white, cream, black, grey, beige, taupe and brown, but can also include any other colour that is a dark enough shade of that colour so as to be "manly".  This includes very dark blue, very dark green, very, very dark red and absolutely excludes purple in any shade or tint. (Purple, Joe is sure, is not a man’s colour.) They aren’t stripey, which can be dodgy, even if the stripes are comprised of acceptable colours.  (Too many colours at once – also not manly, although for some reason I don’t understand at all- this does not apply to plaids.  The man is a mystery.)  The big bonus for Joe is that these socks are fancy in the right way.

Joe likes texture on his socks.  Decorative knit/purl patterns, ribs, cables, they’re all his idea of snazzy knitting, and in this department I can do anything I want, as long as a yarn-over doesn’t sneak in anywhere.   That’s lace.  You can imagine what category lace falls in for Joe. 

It’s like at some point in his knit-education (which is not inconsiderable, even before he met me the man was raised by knitters – and for the record, he can sort of knit, though rather oddly, chooses not to) Joe grasped the concept that lace is usually comprised of yarn overs, and decided then that a yarn over always equals lace.  That even a single  yarn over is a singular bit of lace.  This causes him to be rather suspicious of yarn over buttonholes, and their presence needs to be justified quickly, lest Joe comment that I’m putting "a bit of lace" on the front edge of a cardigan. 

These socks though, they’re perfect, in the world according to Joe – and despite the way they had me muttering foul language towards the end… 

It was remarkable how much better looking they got when they were off my needles and on his feet. The only thing that he doesn’t like about them is that after the photo shoot they came off his feet, and went into the long-range-planning box.  He can look for them to re-surface at Christmas.  He already got socks this season.

225 thoughts on “Socks for Joe

  1. Wee you rassled those gorgeous socks off that refrigerator of a man? Good thing I respected you already. Phew.

  2. I agree with Joe about holes in socks, but it’s less a statement about lace than an ingrained conviction that any hole in a sock should be darned.
    Darn nice socks, lady.

  3. I love them and I love how Joe sticks to his requirements. Go Steph and Joe. I kind of agree about men and the yarn overs. YOs = lace to guys. Period.

  4. wow, i hope joe knows how much you love him! my hubby has size 13 feet, there are no cables or fancy stitches for him, no way…he’s lucky if he gets ribbed socks, usually just ‘plain vanilla’.

  5. You didn’t!! I admire your constraint and ability to take them away after the photo shoot – I have a hard time with shopping (or making) early because I always want to give the item to the person RIGHT THEN. Love the socks. Someday I’ll try knitting a pair, too. = )

  6. Really loverly. I must make some in a bright color for my female feet. Maybe even sneak in a yarn over.

  7. I have a feeling those socks will be taken out and put back in the “long range waiting box” over and over. I wouldn’t want until Christmas for those socks!

  8. Oh I would NEVER get away with putting a pair of socks on my hubby’s feet and then whipping them away to hide in a box. He would fight me for them. Hubby LOVES his wifey-knitted socks and will not wait for a new pair once they are off the needles.

  9. I love your long range planning box. Hopefully his mind will be cat-like enough that he will have mostly forgotten about them and can become surprised and pleased by them all over again.

  10. Oh, you’re worse than a harlot – you’re a TEASE! 😀
    At least now, there is no earthly way you will not have his present done in time. Of course, you could always surprise him with, say, a gansey.

  11. I’d keep my eye on the “hiding place” of these socks. They look so good that Joe might be tempted to liberate them for wearing right away! I love all the details – it makes them interesting but still very manly!

  12. Oh, that sounds so horribly unfair, to tease him like that with perfect socks, withheld! They’re very nice, and very manly. You can tell!

  13. My husband would wear pink socks if I knitted them for him. Lace on the other hand…I wouldn’t want to push it.

  14. Oh damn. You got me! I was looking at the pictures thinking, “wow she giving them to him now? He doesn’t have to wait for Christmas?” Then I read the last paragraph. LOL

  15. Gorgeous socks. I’m guessing–extrapolating from your account and my rather large DH–that the bigger the man, the plainer his taste in colors for clothing. I’m sure there are exceptions, though!

  16. Those are my new favourite socks! Really handsome, and yet with the potential to be somehow “beautiful” on someone less manly.

  17. You are so lucky that you get to do a pattern for him. My brothers have boats for feet and would never wear anything but a racy rib!
    But you are right about plaid. My brother, 6’4″ and built like a linebacker wouldn’t be caught dead in any kind of crazy color like purple (and light blue can be suspect to him) but will wear a kilt! And he looks fantastic in it! Some guys just make a kilt look manly and that is my brother Doug!

  18. Inspiring, as always – but can’t believe you took away his socks. It’s cold in PA, so probably more so in your corner of the world.
    Perhaps you enticed him with the promise of a combination present for the 2011 holidays – socks and a gansey??

  19. If Joe’s feet were smaller, I would love to knit for him. I am a woman that likes feminine things but I much prefer to knit solid color socks with beautiful texture patterns. I fell in love with this pattern the first time you showed it and may have to buy the book just for this pattern.
    Keep up the great work.
    Don’t you think Joe deserves a new pair of socks during the year sometimes. Let him wear them.

  20. I vote you give the man his socks. Life is short, winter is long. He won’t love you any more or less next Christmas because of the timing of the sock appearance.

  21. Ladies,
    I think we should take a poll. How many think Joe should get these socks now instead of next Christmas?

  22. Oh man. I’m jealous. Although for the record I’m not quite as restrictive as Joe in regard to my sock color etc.

  23. In order to get Joe to take the socks off, did you have to take something (or everything) off, too?
    Fair’s fair, after all.

  24. Wow, they look great. Was that a seed stitch gusset I saw? Snazzy indeed! A big win.
    My husband likes wildly colored socks, the wilder the better. Particularly since he flies for work a lot, he loves taking off his shoes at TSA and showing off his socks. He always gets compliments. And he refers to one of his favorite pairs as his lacy socks. (For the record, these have yarn overs but only in the service of making an otherwise plain ribbed sock look wavy.)

  25. @ Janet – I vote yes. With-holding socks like that is cruel and unusual punishment – especially since he tried them on!
    (Is his birthday coming up? What about Father’s Day?)

  26. Those are some kinda wonderful socks! I would like a pair of those for myself, in say red or purple. yummy!
    Way to go!

  27. Does Joe really have the self-restraint to stop himself from raiding the long-range planning box and just putting those socks right back on his feet? Wow.

  28. I agree with Presbytera, unless you got naked, you should give Joe the socks now. Fair is fair.

  29. Fabulous socks! I agree about the timeline: yesterday could theoretically have been February 31st. My husband only wears a 9 1/2, happily, and he’s not as picky about colors…but wow, cables are sometimes too busy for him.

  30. Those were a giant pain for you to knit but they are absolutely beautiful. On the needles, and oddly, far more beautiful on his feet. How odd.

  31. You wicked, evil Harlot! Having him try the socks on and then taking them away! Fake gift at Christmas, too.

  32. P.S. I like the ones you knit much better than the ones pictured in the book.

  33. So beautiful–perhaps I mean handsome :-). They’re dressy but understated. Could there be a gift-giving holiday before next December? Birthday? Anniversary? Father’s Day?

  34. Socks for Joe. In the shortest month of the year. That had Madrona in it.
    Yeah, that was probably not your finest moment of planning.
    But they are gorgeous socks, and worth the wait.

  35. Psst, Joe. You might want to talk about half-Christmas occurring on June 25. That way, you might get the gansey at Yuletide.
    Good luck with that.

  36. I love those! I think my manly man might like them too. Might have to get hold of that pattern. I like the ganseyesque pattern on the front (hope that gansey is not a Bad Word on this blog!)

  37. Those are beautiful socks (hope that comment isn’t too un-manly for Joe!) — I’m especially entranced by the seed stitch (?) gussets.
    Nice work – and I’m glad you don’t feel bad about missing the Feb. deadline. The socks were worth it!

  38. Darn nice socks! I’m surprised that Joe didn’t try to arm-wrestle you for them. I would have been rather ticked to have to give them up, too.

  39. You took them away? Wow…you’re brave. I don’t think I’d be that brave.
    Bet he’ll love them even more at Christmas though 🙂

  40. Those are thoroughly lovely. I wouldn’t have even let him try them on before Christmas!!

  41. they really are spectacular– much more beautiful on than lying on the table at the airport bar!

  42. Those are manly socks, and fit him perfectly. I just don’t know how you can resist giving them to him now. Your willpower is stronger than mine. Do you make yourself wait if the socks are for you and are one of your ‘kits’? Or are all of the ‘kits’ always presents?

  43. Ooooh, they look so great on his feet! I mean, they looked very nice and socky in the earlier posts, but now that they’re real and whole and on feet, they are far beyond what they look like off feet. Very very lovely and perfectly textured in a most manly way. Almost enough to make me want to knit socks. Almost. I hate the 2 part of it.

  44. The socks are sweet! (as we used to say 20 years ago, “sweeeet!”) I think Joe deserves to wear those right now, don’t wait until Christmas!

  45. Joe deserves some sort of compensation for modeling the perfect man socks. So, why not let him have the socks? It’s a long wait until Christmas.

  46. Wow. You let him put them on and then TOOK THEM BACK? That, as my kids would say, is cold. I am currently knitting a third mitt for oldest daughter, who pitched such a royal fit about not having mitts that the first one of the pair came out significantly smaller than normal(stressed knitters knit too tight).

  47. How mean of you, to take back something so lovely! Optimist that I’ve always been, I’ve stopped trusting the Universe to be there for all of us in 10 more months. I guess I should label the things I put away into my long-range box, just in case.

  48. loverly socks, even more beautiful modeled than they were in progress.
    Glad you decided not to stress over a few days. These socks got a late start, with all else going on this month.
    I’m trying to hold back some knit items for the fair this year. Last year’s best efforts were gifted long before fair time. I may adopt the long range planning box. Then I can gift out of that after the fair. Thanks

  49. I can’t believe you took those socks off his feet and put them in the long range planning box. Gutsy, that is all I can say.

  50. Those socks are things of beauty!
    But you can tell Joe that purple is just fine for men. Manly Men, even. My Dad wears purple and looks mighty masculine doing it. The kicker? I made him a “Serious Scarf” (his name) that involves yarn overs…. in a pattern (chain link, at that)… and he uses it and loves it. Although, perhaps not sharing might be smarter. Joe has a longer “wingspan” than my Dad.

  51. now those are some fine manly socks! Worth the effort, I hope. Inspiring,really.
    being the sort that thinks ice cream is a first course…..can’t he have them now, and you sneak in some plain knitting when you’re on a plane elsewhere, so he can have joy now, rather than risking ten months of possible moths, or car-wrecks needing casts, or something equally validly vile?

  52. The wee little triangle of seed stitch at the gussett has me enchanted!
    Also, my slightly modified* Rogue Roses, for February, have made me so insane they’re in time out. I very very carefully managed to make one heel flap too short.
    *I say modified because I changed the heel flap. I don’t like it when a random – nowhere else repeated – stitch pattern appears on the heel. So I carried the Rogue Roses pattern down the side of the heel and snuck in some ribbing for the rest, otherwise they’re precisely to pattern.

  53. Those are some seriously manly/beautiful socks! Sounds like Joe and my hubby have similar sock requirements!

  54. AAA-OOO-ga! Extreme beauty alert! Ack! I just oogled the BOOK and all its glorious content of patterns. Ravelry has a wonderful way to sneak a peek at each pattern. Whooooooosh! That is the sound of my credit card speeding down the highway of book-purchase. Better get outa my way.
    Darn you, Steph, why must you have such sway over us weak, mindless slaves of sock knitting?
    Thanks!
    p.s. Lovely Joe-socks!

  55. Rest assured, they are very manly and very knitterly, all at the same time.
    Sure hope he doesn’t know where the long-range planning box is -there could be a raid on a day of laundry emergency!

  56. Those are the nicest big, brown socks I’ve seen. I had to laugh reading Joe’s definition of lace, remembering The Great Lace Debate of 2010.

  57. Congratulations! They are beautiful and really manly! I know the problem very well myself. Tried to convince my husband of how wonderful handknit socks are … 😉 Now he loves them (but no patterns!) and asks for more. Have to convince him now of how wonderful patterned socks are! :-)(knitting huge socks, plain colours, no pattern = extremely boring!)

  58. After reading your recent posts, I have come to realize that I have a knitters dream of a husband. He is of a smaller stature than most and he is colorblind. I can pretty much knit for him in any color and sometimes more than one color, except no rainbow combination. Rainbow colors are not manly.

  59. We have been on the same page all week for these February socks! Just finished my [large size men’s during the shortest month] socks last night too… they’ll also be tucked away until Christmas 😉 just not sure yet *whose* Christmas.

  60. Oh man, that was mean! Like making a fabulous dinner and then taking it to the neighbors. Better get that GANSEY done soon!!

  61. What beautiful, manly socks. I wish your husband would write a blog post (book) about what knitted items are acceptable for a manly man. I understand his color/texture choices and I think most manly men would agree. There are too many weenie knits out there for men!

  62. Awesome looking socks dear Harlot!
    My mind went to the same place as some other commentators and saw you getting naked to get the socks back off Joe’s feet. I also agree that there are other gift worthy occasions that might be used to take these socks out of long range planning and get them back on Joe’s feet.
    I might even be persuaded to volunteer to knit a pair of socks for Joe to be placed in the long range planning box just so he can have your socks sooner. Not that it would be much before Christmas that I would get them done.

  63. The socks are great, but it got me thinking–why don’t you ever knit toe-up socks? I love the way they come out. Just for something different, do one of your sock-of-the-month pairs toe up…

  64. You are one tough woman. I would have let him have the sock because he said such nice things.

  65. I vote to let him have the socks now! They are terrific, and I love the heel.

  66. I would venture to guess that to a Newfie like Joe, “plaid” actually means tartan, which is the stuff of kilts and thus very manly. Which makes me wonder if he might be open to argyle given its related origins.

  67. Those are gorgeous! In a very manly sort of way, of course. I’m glad Joe appreciates the time, skill and love that goes into a pair of socks (especially size 12!). I had to laugh thinking of his chagrin that he wouldn’t see them again until Christmas. I once gave my husband a sweater I’d been knitting in his presence for months – he was gratifyingly surprised when he opened the gift. Maybe Joe will forget about the socks and be delighted all over again. Well done, Stephanie! On to the next…

  68. Oh! You took them away! Cruel, cruel. Love the texture on these. They just might have to go on my list. Glad to hear you are doing your box again. The success last year was very inspiring.

  69. Those are handsome socks! Bet my DH would wear them with joy as well.
    I can totally relate to knitting for a big-guy. I make socks of EU size 46 (I think it is US size 13?) for my DH and I once managed to knit Rogue hoodie for him (with a 50″ chest) so I know how it feels to knit for your loved one who happens to be “biggish”: And I love him for it. so … aren’t we lucky in the end? (If I need any diversion I can knit for my 3 daughters… 7,5,3 yrs. – those knits are made in a jiffy) Love your blog btw.

  70. They’re beautiful, very manly socks! And you took them AWAY?!? That just seems MEAN! 🙂 At least you won’t have to worry about socks for him at the end of the year, though. Unless you decide to knit him another pair before than. haha 🙂

  71. I bet they stay in the long range planning box unless and until there’s no clean socks to be had and there’s no laundry happening anytime soon.

  72. WOO HOO loverly socks. Too bad Joe didn’t keep them on his feet before you hid them on him bur what the hey they will be all new and comfy come nest Christmas. What is on your needles now ? Maybe his gansey ?

  73. I thought Toronto only had 52 days of summer weather.
    Joe might ‘need’ those socks now – but I don’t know what the contents of his sock drawer is like, though I do know he keeps his passport there too, like most mortals.
    You wouldn’t take candy from a child, why take them back for the sake of the Christmas box?, this may explain why I have such turmoil come Christmas time. They were truly a labour (sometimes of love and/or perseverance).
    I count myself lucky with DH – he wears the wild-coloured Opal pair of socks I made him (though strictly in-house where no outsider would see them), knowing how much effort went into the first socks knitted. Though the next pair of socks I knitted for him are black, ribbed, and I call them the “November to September Christmas socks’ – if you get the drift.

  74. I thought Toronto only had 52 days of summer weather.
    Joe might ‘need’ those socks now – but I don’t know what the contents of his sock drawer is like, though I do know he keeps his passport there too, like most mortals.
    You wouldn’t take candy from a child, why take them back for the sake of the Christmas box?, this may explain why I have such turmoil come Christmas time.
    I count myself lucky with DH – he wears the wild-coloured Opal pair of socks I made him (though strictly in-house where no outsider would see them), knowing how much effort went into the first socks knitted. They were truly a labour (sometimes of love and/or perseverance). Though the next pair of socks I knitted for him are black, ribbed, and I call them the “November to September Christmas socks’ – if you get the drift.

  75. Love, love, love those socks! And Joe sounds a lot like my Dave about the colors and textures. I don’t think I told you, but Dave reads your column as faithfully as I do (every day!) and he asked for me to make him socks the Paul Atwell socks that you made for Ken out of the same yarn. Unfortunately, I have never made a pair of socks, but now that he’s asked for them, they will be on the needles this month. Though, I’m starting with a plain 2X2 rib in navy Malabrigo. The NEXT pair will be the Paul Atwell pattern(yes, I have the pattern from the family Trunk Project)in the Zen Serenity 20 Mocha Olive.

  76. Earlier, Annie B. commented: “The wee little triangle of seed stitch at the gussett has me enchanted.”
    I agree. Details like these always tickle me. Also, the placement of the cable in the pattern is perfect. Love these socks.
    Along with so many other things, one of these days I really need to venture outside of knitting vanilla socks. I can do it . . . I can do it . . . I can do it . . .
    Have a great weekend, Stephanie.

  77. They could become negotiating socks. 🙂
    You know what they say about men with big feet…………………………..big socks.

  78. You made him take them off? He did? Husband has been known to wear one sock around the house as I cast on for the second sock. He has gignormous feet, but will wear any color. Once I brought home a skein of self patterning yarn that was mostly pink, and he was so happy I was going to make a pair for him using the yarn. I did. I have given up trying to explain why wild socks are not really appropriate for him to wear to work.

  79. Lol! I love that you confiscated them for Christmas. My son likes to go shopping with me before Christmas, which can be as early as September. Then he pouts for up to three months because I keep everything until Christmas morning.
    The socks turned out great.

  80. Yay, Steph!!!
    Another one bites the dust, uh huh, uh huh!!
    Those are just great. I think you should give them back, tho’. . .

  81. you took them back? can you do that in knitting?!?!
    i love all the ridge detail. Somehow I knew forever would only mean a day or two for you. 🙂

  82. Ah, my man would disagree about the purple. But it’s gotta be a manly purple, to be sure. Which is probably why the Koigu purple, blue and pink socks don’t get worn often. That said, these are indeed manly and I’ll bet Joe is sad he has to wait to put them in his sock drawer. They’re great!

  83. The socks are gorgeous and Joe’s tastes have the virtue of being very, very clear. He was a prince to model them. But…..isn’t it almost Joe abuse to yank them back for Christmas???? Doesn’t the poor man have a birthday? Or father’s day? Or just a Be Nice To Joe Day? Is he really limited to just one pair of socks a year?

  84. I really like the detail. My current pair got spoken for by my daughter and I was looking forward to them 😉

  85. Lovely, manly socks. I have a big footed husband and son and never knit socks for them so you have put me to shame.

  86. They are really beautiful socks! I like the seed stitch gusset and the fit looks perfect. I can’t believe you took his socks away until next year! lol

  87. Those are so lovely, both manly and lovely patterns!
    Joe should be counting the days until Xmas

  88. PS: I just showed the socks to my husband, and he loves them, too. I’ve ordered a copy of Around the World in Knitted Socks from the library and will buy one if I’m not too overwhelmed with the pattern — wish me luck!

  89. Oh man…I am knitting Scott a pair of grey & grey striped socks. It did not occur to me that he would not consider grey manly. Better check before I get much further.

  90. Well, you obviously did not run out of yarn.
    Those are gorgeous. It is seed stitch in the gusset-I could not figure out how you got garter stitch in there in horizontal rows.
    I am staggered at the thought of you taking them back after Joe haveing them on his feet! I guess I am not at the point of ‘long-range planning box’. I will give the whole concept a think.

  91. I hate Yos/Lace on my socks as well. They make my feet feel nekkid which defeats the entire point of wearing socks.

  92. Really, really nice socks. Interesting without looking painful because of all the fancy stitches worked into them. I’ll be making some for myself and they’ll look very womanly on me.

  93. I love the socks–they are so pretty. Don’t tell Joe I said that, though. But I just love all the little details, especially the seed stitch gusset. I went over for a look at the book too, and nearly swooned with joy at the socks on the cover. I could knit those. I could, but I won’t. I’ll just enjoy looking at the picture. It takes me long enough just to knit a plain vanilla sock, and socks come in two’s.

  94. those are really nice socks. too bad joe has to wait till christmas to put them on again
    Patti

  95. So, if you planned in advance to “take them back”, I think you should have made the effort to model them yourself first. Choke. THEN you could have pleaded with Joe to “help” you with your blog and felt sort of justified when they got removed ’til Christmas.
    And about the stripes vs plaids – my theory is that the resultant 90 degree angles cancel out the femininity of flat stripes. Squares are male, stripes are female. Makes as much sense as anything else.

  96. I think this is wonderful. Joe appreciates, and wears something that you love to make. Seriously, I might learn to knit if my husband was interested in getting some socks from me. Rock on.

  97. That’s a lot of stipulations with regards to socks someone else is to be knitting for you…but, oddly enough, I have to admit, I agree with every single one of his points…

  98. My older son asked me to make something for his wife’s sister’s new baby, so I made a little sweater. Now the same son (never interested in knitting beyond “Nice, Mom”) asked if I would make something for HIM. Hmmm. Maybe socks. I know that solid-color dignified socks are the way to go, and he wouldn’t like cables all over the sock. But this guy knows good design, and he’d like those cables, carefully placed.
    Gotta buy the book.

  99. If Joe is anything like my husband, he will completely forget about these socks and be genuinely surprised when he opens them on Xmas morning!

  100. Taking them back seems rather cruel. Couldn’t you let him keep as a down payment toward the gansey?

  101. Mean, mean, striped-ass-snake mean, as my neighbour would say. I haven’t been brave enough to let someone try on socks that they don’t get to keep right then. They are lovely, and I’ll be adding those to the queue for certain!

  102. First: Most Handsome Socks! I may have to give in and make Christmas socks for my (side-by-side) refrigerator of a s-i-l and his size 14 feet. Whew! Scarey thought. Second: My sister made beautiful alpaca socks for me for my birthday. Gave them to me 2 weeks ago. My birthday is in late May! Just sayin’. Hugs to you and yours

  103. I think these socks are just about the most beautiful things ever. Joe is one lucky guy to get such manly, knitted things from his hunny. Well done!

  104. what? you took them away from him????? GIVE JOE HIS SOCKS BACK!!! Can we convince you to take a poll and have you listen to the power of the people? the blog? the blog says GIVE JOE HIS SOCKS BACK!!

  105. You do realize that Joe is a saint, don’t you? He actually let you take his socks away? The man is truly a saint! I am flabbergasted. You really took his socks away? You are, one brave woman!

  106. After reading this post to my husband, all he could say was “She did what?” and then muttered “poor Joe” as he poured himself a glass of wine. My husband admits to sock envy…

  107. If February were one of the “big months” (that is, 31 days), you would have been a lot closer to done at the end of the month. You probably wouldn’t have gotten discouraged halfway through the second sock.
    I declare you still on schedule.

  108. Your description of what Joe considers ‘manly’ made me giggle – especially the manliness of multi-color plaid!
    They are gorgeous socks – I can’t believe he hasn’t snatched them out of the Christmas box.

  109. Wait a sec—didn’t you spin AND knit a pair of Valentine Socks in February? It seems to me that these very handsome socks are March socks finished early! And yes, give Joe his socks back!

  110. You let Joe wear the socks, then took them away?!?!?
    Just what kind of sadist are you????

  111. Oh, for heaven’s sake, give the man his socks. They are beautiful (in a solid, manly sort of way) and he likes them. Plus, he let you photograph them on his feet. He deserves to keep them. Sorry, Stephanie.

  112. The color choices are definitely not just a Newfie thing. My hubby’s never even visited there and would agree with every single color requirement that Joe has. Even the plaid thing, he will wear some pretty bright plaid shirts. Maybe it’s a big guy thing?

  113. That’s a very good looking pair of socks. My DH doesn’t even want texture on his socks. “Wouldn’t that kind of rub, in your shoes?” *Sigh*

  114. They are quite handsome. At least he goes for texture. I who have knitted boring brown patternless socks and simple moss patterns in grey have almost sworn off knitting them.

  115. My Joe, (who is a Scot) says that “Confident Heterosexuals and Confident Homosexuals can wear anything they like – (including purple stripy socks) – It’s the unsure, “in-betweeners” who worry about what people will think.” 🙂

  116. I laughed about the purple — I guess my men wouldn’t be considered manly. My DH is a high school teacher and involved in the athletics program and the school colors are…. purple and white. Our closets are full of purple and I’m the only female out of 4 people (we evened out the ratio with two female cats, but that still doesn’t make the bathroom ratio even). Everyone is manly in purple here!
    BTW – Love the socks – they really are beautiful.

  117. I really like what’s going on in the gusset area of the sock, well designed nice attention to detail. So what’s his feeling about Argyles? My mother used to knit to order for the men in the office she worked in back in the early 50’s.

  118. Those are some handsome socks! Definitely worth the wait — both into March and for Christmas for Joe.
    They look challenging, and I don’t usually say things like that!
    Kelly @ Creating a Family Home

  119. hope you read this, on twitter (I’m not) you wrote about . In my country it is remembered this way < is k leiner dan meaning smaller then, see how the letter k has the < attached to the pole? Maybe you can find something like that in your language too. Maybe something like: a k itten is smaller than a cat.Just a suggestion to make things easier for schoolkids. Things like this are called donkeybridges in my language, something too make remembering easier and a fold in the top of the page where you stopped reading is a donkeys ear.

  120. Oh go on – give the poor chap his socks back! They are much too nice to leave until next Christmas!

  121. I’m just now finishing the first pair of socks I have ever knitted, using your instructions from Knitting Rules! and some great self-striping yarn. They are for my daughter, who is home on a quick college break and watching me like a hawk so she can scoop them to wear back to U Maine Orono .. there is NO way she would ever let me keep them to gift for Christmas. I’ve been knitting for 30 years and your book gave me the courage to plunge into the world of socks .. thanks!!

  122. Those are indeed handsome socks. (Note manly adjective.) Now my evil brain is busy thinking of stitch patterns with yo’s that don’t look like yo’s, not that I would ever try to sneak them into a man’s sock, nope, not me. Be that as it may (evil), any man would be proud to wear those socks.
    I especially like the seed-stitch gusset. I don’t do gussets, I do short-row heels; I did a gusset on the very first sock I ever made and decided it was funny-looking and I didn’t like it. I might change my mind one of these old days. It doesn’t do to let the mind get musty.

  123. I have to agree wholeheartedly with Joe and lace and socks. My favorite socks do not have even little holes to cause chilly feet. And I knit most socks on zeros on principle.
    And now he has to wait until Christmas. Hmm, seems a bit unfair, especially when they are so lovely and ready to go.

  124. Lovely socks! Don’t worry about Joe’s sock rules for manly men. It’s that pesky Y chromosome! It fools around with their little brains making their thought processes a little wonky. But they can’t help it, poor dears. You did know, of course, that the only reason that men were traditionally thought of as the logical sex was that they were in charge and they started that rumor themselves. Mine insists that he’s allergic to eggs but can wolf down all kinds of baked goodies and even 3 egg omelets without any reaction because once they’re cooked they don’t count as eggs????

  125. Joe could get his socks with a caveat that he won’t get another pair at Christmas. Those are some big socks and who has time to knit another pair?

  126. Awesome looking socks. Maybe you could compromise and they could be Father’s Day socks?

  127. Dude. I mean du-ude. I say he gets the socks if he can accept that they count for the coming winter. They’re just lovely, and he obviously loves them. I don’t knit on a schedule for birthdays and holidays, I just give gifts year round as I make them. I’ve found it to be much more fun this way and really freeing.

  128. What? you took the socks away from Joe? When he loves them so much? I say GIVE JOE HIS SOCKS BACK! What about the rest of you blog commenters? Speak up for Joe and demand his socks back. Maybe Stephanie will listen to the blog.

  129. Do you ever swatch before knitting socks? How many stitches do you usually cast on for Joe’s socks whatever the eventual leg pattern will be, how many for your own socks?
    Love those socks, btw.

  130. MY man won’t even do texture. When I showed him your Earl Grey socks he told me they were too “girly”!

  131. I cannot believe you gave Joe those socks, got him to pose for you, then took them away!

  132. Simply solidly handsome. And I also saw that seed-stitch at the gusset – beeautiful.

  133. I love these socks! I would especially love them in any shade of blue, red or PURPLE!
    Great job, YH.

  134. I do love those socks. May have to get the pattern of my own sweety (who has much smaller feet, even though he is a large man, too) I wish that I had the strength to withhold presents until Christmas. I get excited and give them immediately (at least if the recipient lives with me) and then end up having to buy something not nearly as nice for Christmas or birthday gifts.

  135. Amazing! You make me want to knit socks…stop it right now…I do NOT have time to add socks to my knit queue.

  136. Beautiful socks! I think they would look nice in a VERY DARK eggplant purple or even a dark mustard yellow. If they are dark enough, they can be manly.

  137. The holes in the knitting would get him noticed. I knit hubby a pair of short “loksins” and called them “Irish Golf Socks”. He liked them. It worked until one of the golf buddies finally told him they looked like girl socks!

  138. I wish I could convice my husband that texture was manly. He agrees with all of Joe’s other particulars but also belives that only plain very fine weight knitting is manly. Oh, and for some reason v-necks are only allowed on womens clothing.

  139. Beautiful socks. I have knit socks for my husband and sons. Luckily, their feet are smaller than Joe’s. All about 10.5. But they accept fancier stuff. One pair in college (university) colors of purple and orange. One pair in very dark blue but with an intarsia T and stripes in dark yellow (gold) – also college colors. The T socks get worn often (that kid’s feet are always cold) and I had to mend the intarsia. I do not think “lace” would go over well, however.

  140. And here I thought they were slip-stiched cables, but no! It’s all knit and purl. Fascinating.
    With socks, I’m more of a stripe person. Even now I’m making Cookie A’s Sam socks, which are not stripe but cables. Still worth a challenge. 😀

  141. Lovely socks – even if they are brown – I don’t do brown or beige or anything even remotely related to it. As far as I am concerned purple is the only colour. And please dear Stephanie, give Joe his socks now. Don’t make him wait til christmas. And as for the subject of men in kilts, being of Scots descent, I find there is nothing more manly than a big bloke in a skirt!

  142. My beloved Brian has small feet and is cool w/ red and greens, but I rarely finish a pair for him. Seems I knit a lot of single socks for pattern samples and my darning pile is overflowing for both of us. The shoemaker’s kids and the sock designer’s hubby all go barefoot, I think.
    I’m coming solo to Toronto tomorrow/Mon afternoon thru Wed. Noon. Staying near Kensington Market. Hoping to find the new location for Lettuce Knit. Hoping they still have Knit-In on Tuesdays. Who knows, maybe we will cross paths. would love it.
    Missed Lucy Neatby by one day, but Bata is still there. Looking forward to ethnic foods, museums & knitting.
    Stay warm. LynnH

  143. Beautiful socks! Question, do you really poke your needles through your yarn and your knitting, my grandmother and mother always told me never to do that, “IT SPLITS THE YARN!” Thanks for the insight!

  144. My six-year old son agrees—“Mommy, purple and pink are NOT boy colors.” I guess it’s in their DNA. Love the socks. I can’t believe he let you put them away for the next 9 months!!

  145. I read ‘expansive’ as ‘expensive’, so now I will forever think that neutral colours are more expensive to knit than, say, purple.
    The socks look lovely, although based on my logic they must have cost a fortune!

  146. Lovely socks, now let the man keep them! Having somebody try something on and then announce that they will get them next year is so rude that it completely negates the kindness of the eventual gift. If you didn’t want to give him the socks until next Christmas then you should have kept them a secret until they were gifted.

  147. wow that is harsh! what about the april snow? perhaps you could surprise double gift them? after a late demoralising snow for one week and then christmas?

  148. Those brown socks are fantabulously beautiful… even though they are brown. They actually look so much better on his feet than half done in the kitchen. I love that pattern. LOVE. IT. I didn’t get that “big love” feeling until seeing them on the feet. funny.

  149. I used to scoff at the male obsession with lace not being manly, and then I read a statement from Franklin Habit that put the whole thing in a completely different light:
    “When you have hairy legs, socks with little holes in them do not make for a pretty picture.”
    After thoughtfully considering the image of yarn overs with little tufts of manly hair protruding from them? I think Franklin may have a point.
    (And Joe’s socks are gorgeous and very manly!)

  150. My husband says the exact same thing about purple. Even if is a slightly purply blue, it’s out. Not sure where that prejudice came from, but he is adamant.

  151. My husband gets a pair of socks every year for his birthday. He has already picked out this year’s yarn and yes, it has purple. So did last year’s. (I picked it out, but he loved it). However, I can’t really normally get away with patterns, because if I did that he wouldn’t want to wear it unless it was a solid colour. And he doesn’t want to waste his nice hand-knit socks on solid colours. (As an academic he can get away with colourful socks.) Not that I’m bragging or anything 0:).

Comments are closed.