Turn It Up To 11 - MKAL - Week 4

OMG - you guys!!!! I'm so sad this is coming to an end. It has been an absolute blast knitting with you, watching your progress and seeing your "AHA!" moments when things clicked. I. Heart. You!

But! Here we are, at the end of our sock journey, though hopefully not at the end of our knitting friendship. And it's time to wrap things up, rock those socks and win some prizes. Because I LOVE giving away prizes! Let's wrap up the business end of stuff and then get to a the party business. Wait... is this the mullet part of sock knitting?! Am I flying this crazy plane all by myself? Alrighty then!

So we're folding our socks. I know, its kind of weird and totally un-mathematical (non-mathematical... someone correct my grammar here) but it works. It just does. So we've got our socks folded from the heels...

If your socks are LESS than or equal to 1-1/2" short of your toe, then it's time to start your ribbing. If NOT... you'll wanna keep knitting until your 0" disappears under your needle when the 1-1/2" mark is aligned with your toe. 

And once your get there, feel sad, because you can't knit any more of the pattern. I have such short feet that I only got to row 103 before I had to start my ribbing so I didn't get much of a pattern repeat. Boo! But I still love them and can't wait to wear them. 

See... they're even when folded in half!

So I ribbed, I bound off, and now it's time to soak and block the socks. We're going to employ the same blocking technique that we used in the swatching exercise. Get that wool wash out. I'm using a new scent since I ran out of my last one washing socks last week. This time I have Soak's "Yuzu" scent in my favorite sunflower blocking bowl (which is only good for one hat or one pair of socks, really). But its kind of lovely!

I'm gonna submerge these puppies for 15 minutes, or so, to let the fibers get saturated. Them I'm going to squash them out. You read that right - squash. We want to push everything together as tight as we can without wringing or twisting to get as much water out so we can then lay them down to dry.

Again, like with your swatch, we want to use the same technique for drying. I, for example, squashed the water out and then just plopped them down on a blocking mat. If you used a sock blocker when you did your swatch, use a sock blocker now, to get the same gauge. I tend to just nudge them into the shape I like and let 'em go. Then when I pull them on they feel oooooooohhhhhhh sooooooooo goooooood! Like my feet are wearing puppies. 

Wait... no. That's gross. Like they're wearing clouds. Let's go with that. Soft. Warm. And SPOILED! 'Cuz for serious... how spoiled are feet that wear handmade socks? RIDICULOUSLY spoiled. Maybe, dare I say, "Turn It Up To 11" spoiled? Too far? Ok... too far. Can't blame a girl for trying.

Anyway, now the socks are dry. And I tried to photograph them. Which was hard because I didn't want to stand in my white box of photography since I think they look better in their natural surroundings (read: on my dog-covered floors and rugs). So I tried. And I think they look pretty darn good.

And now to the reason we're all here - the PRIZES! Did you forget there were prizes? I know some folks have so let's review what's up for grabs, shall we?

• A skein of yarn from Black Market Wool (and since its a MYSTERY KAL, it'll be a mystery as to what the skein looks like, but trust me, is awesome)

• A free pattern from the lovely Knitsomniac Designs (WOOT WOOT!)

• A small project bag from my local peep, Sarahinajar (amazeballs!)

• A free pattern of your choice from ME!!! You can choose from any of my patterns or from the patterns I have with Ewe Ewe Yarns and I'll buy it for you (since they're now not technically mine to give away). Or you can hold on to your credit for a free pattern and claim it when you see something of mine you like. Whatever makes you happy!

And how do you win said prizes? Welp, firstly, you have to FINISH the socks. Only finished socks are eligible for prizes, but don't panic, they're not due just yet. I, lucky duck that I am, am headed to Scotland for two weeks on May 30th. I'll pretty much be on an internet black out except those few times we get some Wi-Fi so I'm giving you until June 18th (my 6th wedding annivesary, as it happens) to finish your socks and submit images.

Secondly, you send me pictures. Oodles and oodles of pictures! Ok, don't overload me, but  you know... send me pictures. The best way to do this is on Instagram. Tag me (@socalmeaghan) and use the following hashtags so I can find them: #tuksockmkal #turnitupto11mkal #unapologeticknitter. Or post your finished socks in our HO's and FO's board on Ravelry or if you're not into that, you can just email me at meaghan@unapologeticknitter.com with the subject "Finished MKAL Socks".

Th-th-th-that's all folks. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time and putting your trust in me, to learn how to make socks. It's been a blast from my end of things and I hope you've had fun too. I know math is rarely something that makes people excited but I think you can see the beauty of it when applied to knitting. Have fun knitting. I hope you'll knit oodles and oodles of socks. And always feel free to contact me with questions about socks (mine or any others you try). 

Happy Knitting, my sock-knitting ninja lovelies!!!

ML4L!