Off and on over the past few months, you may have gotten updates or see things around about Socks for Happy People.  Well, their website is now active, so go check it out!

I'm a big fan of all things sock (if that's not apparent, already!), so I thought I'd share this great site.  They sell socks and are part of the B1G1, or buy one, give one, community.  Each pair of socks they sell not only gives you a pair but it also gives a child in Mongolia a pair.

It's a great idea but what really stands out to me is that the socks the children get are locally sourced, which helps local industry and agriculture in the area.  
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My goals for this week are to focus on knitting projects for my family, and I think I might have taken that a bit too seriously!  I ended up ordering enough yarn for two sweaters yesterday (it was a fantastic price) for my husband and I.  I've been doing really well at burning through my stash and not buying anymore yarn for my shop, but I guess I need to kick it into high gear next week to make room for the sweater yarn.

I have so many projects to work on this summer, and I keep adding new ones.  Hopefully, I'll, at least, get a few things done before the autumn and winter sock rush hit. :)
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I'm not a fan of Focus on the Family, no worries, but this week is going to be my week to focus on my family. I spent about a week with my mother and my grandmother and also got a short visit in with my uncle and little brother, so I'm all fuzzy with thoughts from that. My mom's family is very small and we all live very far apart, and it's very rare that more that more than two of us are in one spot at the same time.

Even more exciting is that my dad should be on American soil this evening, returning from the Middle East! He's been gone for 6 months, and I'm so excited to see him and my stepmom in a few weeks.

We came back home last night, and I've already started made a start on projects for us all:

  • A pair of new slippers for my husband.
  • Finishing a pair of socks for me!
  • Digging through my sock yarn to see if there are any self-striping colorways that my mom would like. She was really impressed with the pair I was working on this week.
  • Starting a shawl for my uncle's wedding in May.
  • Making more progress on the lace piece for my grandmother.
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Completed goals 03/21/2010
 

This week has been a productive one!

I've:

  • Finished the experiment and listed it. I'm calling the section 'The Pharmacy' because it makes me giggle.
  • Finished the pair of cotton/wool tabi.
  • Bought some fake feet. I can't wait to get these! They completely crack me up.

I plan on:

  • Starting and finishing a pair of cashmere socks.
  • Making myself a new pair of socks.
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I forgot to go over what I managed to accomplish last week, but I'll go ahead and do that now.
  • I finished sewing up all of the sock sleeves I cut out.
  • Finished my Simple Luxury Alpaca socks.
  • Knit up a new pair of tabi.
  • Worked on a new pair of cotton/wool tabi.
  • Printed out a bunch of new sock bands.
  • Started a lace piece for my grandma.
  • Finished weaving in the ends of a bunch of pairs of socks!

This week, I'd like to:
  • Finish up the cotton/wool tabi.
  • Start a new pair of cashmere or yak blend socks.
  • Finish up the lace piece for my lovely grandma.
  • Work some more on my experiment.
  • Possible take some more pictures, including some action shots.
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I usually read while I knit; and, last night, as I was finishing up another pair of Simple Luxury Alpaca socks for my shop, I glanced upon a post detailing the number of stitches (estimated) that someone had knit into a sweater.  As I read, I thought of all of the people who've asked 'why are these socks so expensive?', 'why are they so much more special than a machine made, $15 pair?', or other similar questions, and realized I've never actually written anything the minute details of what's in a pair of socks.  

For the following example, I'm going to use numbers from a large pair of socks from my Simple Luxury line.  Many people glance at them and consider only the design.  They're not very flashy, compared to many of my tabi and carry a heftier price tag; and, though they're made of higher-end fibers, that's not the only justification for the price.

What is then?  Well, each sock is made up of over seventeen thousand stitches.  Yes, that's 17.000 with 3 0's.  Each one of those stitches is slipped from needle to needle by hand, not whirled around the gears of a machine.  A pair of socks has over 34.000 stitches -- about twice what a proportionally- sized sweater (on larger needles with larger yarn, of course) uses.

As for yarn, these socks take a little over 1/4 of a mile of yarn.  

That's a lot of stitches!
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Forgot to post this yesterday!  I'm feeling a bit of spring fever, but it seems like everyone else is, too.  My primary job is with a small company my husband and I own, and we've got a lot to do this week so I'll be taking it a bit easy on twiddletoes.

What I need to do this week:

  • Finish sewing up all of the sock sleeves I cut and folded yesterday.
  • Cut some travertine to use as sock risers for my pictures.
  • Finish the pair of blue alpaca socks I'm working on.
  • Start another pair of Simple Luxury Cashmere socks.
  • Make another attempt at felting last week's experiment.
  • Try to decide whether to order more alpaca for socks or to wait until sales pick up again.
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Before posting my new goals on Monday, I thought I'd go over my list from last week and sketch out what I accomplished.

So:

  • I posted DLS #2
  • Planned for DLS #3, but I don't know if I'll have enough ready to post.
  • Finished my first listing for my Simple Luxury Cashmere socks.
  • Modified my sock bands for my Simple Luxury line.  Not only did I mod the alpaca bands, but I also created some for my cashmere socks, as well.
  • Started the pair of alpaca socks, but am only about 1/4 of the way finished.  I should have them finished, if I don't get distracted, by Monday or Tuesday.  I bet I'll get distracted! :)
  • I didn't even touch the Shop section of the website.  Didn't even take a peak.  Bad me.
Not on the list, but I did:

  • Finally retimed my sewing machine and finish sewing up a batch of sock sleeves.
  • Worked on an experiment that has proven to be mostly successful.
  • Finally got around to ordering some new size 1 double pointed knitting needles that I've been really needing.
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A new week, another Dirty Little Secret!  In January, I started matching colors, trying to find a color combination that made me sigh, and I found it.  The yarns arrived at the end of February, and can you guess the season they're for?
Dirty Little Secret #2
Pretty obvious, isn't it?  I've been thinking about Christmas for three months -- ya know, the time when most people are paying bills and trying to forget about the holidays?  That's me, always planning ahead.

The project is actually a personal project.  I'm planning on making Chrismukkah stockings for my brother and his partner and my mom and stepdad, this year.  If I have time, I'll squeeze in two more for my dad and stepmom.  

Got a dirty little secret you'd like to share?  Tell me about it here -- I'd love to feature other crafters and artists!
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