First Pair of Big Black Socks is (are) Done!
After my inauspicious start, I finally finished my first pair of BBS for Socks for Soldiers. Not even that, the socks survived their brutal machine wash and dry, in on regular cycle in hot water followed by a hot air dry. Whilst all this abuse of socks was going on, I had to repeatedly assure my own socks that they would never be so treated, and that this was for a good cause, as the U.S. military no longer allows washerwomen to accompany soldiers into the field to do their "smalls" in the nearest body of water. And, let's face it, when you're spending your days avoiding IEDs and automatic weapons fire, the last thing you probably want to be doing when you finally get some off time is delicately handwashing your own.
So. The socks are done and came out of the dryer feeling as nice and thick and wanting to be put on as they did when they went in. I made my sock band:
and wrapped the left-over yarn around a card to send along with the socks, along with a needle and some of the woolly nylon reinforcing thread. Here's another photo, this tie of the socks (I just realized you can't see the two BBS because I stacked them up to take this photo), along with the band and one of my own socks on top for comparison - it still makes me crack up at how big they are, and I didn't even knit the gianormous size!
Mike had already settled himself in for the evening when I took this sock photo awhile ago, so I spread a towel out over his tail to provide a plain background for the socks. Mike stared at me the whole time, perturbed that I was not taking a photo of him. So, here he is, Mr. Bah Humbug himself, on Christmas Day, 2006:
My thanks to Sandra David for the yarn I used to make these socks.
Some Fun Stats
Cost of Yarn: $21 +taxes and shipping
Total length of sock: 27"
Number of rows (11 rows/inch): 297
Number of stitches per row (excluding the additional sts around the heel gusset): 80
Minimum number of stitches in one pair of Size 9 BBS: 23,760
Number of hours to knit the socks: I didn't keep track! Knitting a similar pair of socks for myself (simple K1, P1 leg over 48 sts) usually takes me about 12 hours. I'd say the BBS socks took about twice that, not counting the time spent frogging and re-knitting on the first sock.
Whew! No wonder my hands and eyes were tired when I finished!
If you'd like to tire out your hands and eyes, too, for a worthy cause, please join Socks For Soldiers.
So. The socks are done and came out of the dryer feeling as nice and thick and wanting to be put on as they did when they went in. I made my sock band:
and wrapped the left-over yarn around a card to send along with the socks, along with a needle and some of the woolly nylon reinforcing thread. Here's another photo, this tie of the socks (I just realized you can't see the two BBS because I stacked them up to take this photo), along with the band and one of my own socks on top for comparison - it still makes me crack up at how big they are, and I didn't even knit the gianormous size!
Mike had already settled himself in for the evening when I took this sock photo awhile ago, so I spread a towel out over his tail to provide a plain background for the socks. Mike stared at me the whole time, perturbed that I was not taking a photo of him. So, here he is, Mr. Bah Humbug himself, on Christmas Day, 2006:
My thanks to Sandra David for the yarn I used to make these socks.
Some Fun Stats
Cost of Yarn: $21 +taxes and shipping
Total length of sock: 27"
Number of rows (11 rows/inch): 297
Number of stitches per row (excluding the additional sts around the heel gusset): 80
Minimum number of stitches in one pair of Size 9 BBS: 23,760
Number of hours to knit the socks: I didn't keep track! Knitting a similar pair of socks for myself (simple K1, P1 leg over 48 sts) usually takes me about 12 hours. I'd say the BBS socks took about twice that, not counting the time spent frogging and re-knitting on the first sock.
Whew! No wonder my hands and eyes were tired when I finished!
If you'd like to tire out your hands and eyes, too, for a worthy cause, please join Socks For Soldiers.
posted by Melissa at 4:54 PM
2 Comments:
Congrats on finishing your first pair of BBS! They do take a really long time to finish and look huge.
I really like the sock band that you made!
You are too cool. I just started my own blog combining my herp and knitting interests, when I noticed yours. I'll definitely be checking it out frequently.
Oh, if you're interested,c ome say hi!
http://herpnknit.typepad.com/herp_n_knit/
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