I love socks. Knitting them, even. But damn, I sure have accumulated a lot of sock yarn.
I’ve added to my sock yarn stash every year since I got back into knitting 7ish years ago. You know the drill. Pretty colors. Unique hand dye job. One of a kind. Can’t do without it.
I’ve proven that my ability to purchase sock yarn has exceed my ability/interest in knitting said sock yarn.
It’s time for that to stop.
As we approach end of the year I start to think about what I want to work on over Christmas vacation and my goals for the following year. This year I’ll be working on sock yarn projects over my vacation, and I’m setting a multi-year goal of ending the year with less sock yarn than I started with at the beginning of the year.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be doing a complete inventory of my sock yarn stash. It’s mostly in 2 big plastic bins but I know there are errant balls here and there. Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this. Lie to me if you need to 😉
This is a reasonable goal. I’m not saying I won’t buy any more sock yarn. I’m not saying I’ll only knit socks. I’m not saying I’ll only knit with sock yarn. Just that I want to have less sock yarn. This should be doable, right?
To get the ideas flowing I’ve been browsing ravelry and picked out a bunch of non-sock sock yarn projects. I’m using the tag “nonsock” when browsing so I can easily keep track. {see my list}
row 1: alpaca sox legwarmers, springtime bandit, yvaine, sagano, colonnade, daybreak
row 2: centrique, vent d’est vent d’ouest, fizzi, moonlight, swirl shawl, abby
row 3: shetland triangle, gail, endpaper, veilfalt II, lazy day, keefely
row 4: red skies, one skein, october leaves, aestlight, milkweed, akimbo
row 5: spiral mitts, bouquet, heather’s mittens, limerick, colourflow, waving chevron
I’m in a modern-wearable mode right now so you’ll see a lot of simpler knits. Same goes with shawls. Sock yarn shawls are so versatile! I love wearing them as a scarf with my fall and winter coats.
I’ve selected:
- 17 shawls/stoles
- 6 mitts/mittens
- 4 scarves
- 2 cowls
- 1 pair of legwarmers
I also tried to pick some projects that would work well with mostly solids and others that would work well with variegated handdyeds.
Since I won’t be buying yarn for my vacation knitting I’ll be continuing to collect more non-sock yarn patterns over the next 5 weeks. Can you believe Christmas is only 5 weeks away?
At least I’ve kicked the holiday knitting habit. Now for that sock-yarn-buying habit.
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I just got my yarn collection down from two plastic bins to one plastic bin. Then I realized this wasn’t true because I have a small drawer of nicer yarns. Oh, plus the 3 random balls in the closet. Plus the two half finished scarves with respective balls of yarn that are stashed away somewhere else. Yup, I keep finding balls of yarn all around my house and realize that if I combined them, they would fill that plastic bin I thought I could get rid of.
I’m in a similar boat, except that I discovered I don’t enjoy knitting socks as much as I thought I would, at least in sock weight yarn. I am so going to be trawling your Rav list for non-sock sock yarn projects! Thanks for linking to it!
Oooh, great patterns – thanks for the links, I’ve just added a few to my already rather excessive queue (well, at least it matches my rather excessive sock yarn stash!). And 5 weeks?! Seriously?! Yikes.
That was a great idea to tag the projects nonsock! I didn’t think that creatively and I think I tagged mine “fingering” which isn’t going to be quite as helpful.
I’m in a similar boat – most of my stash is sock yarn too. While I still enjoy knitting socks, there are those yarns that aren’t machine wash (therefore not safe for me to gift as socks) and the times I don’t feel like knitting socks.
Must go peruse your list some more…
Yeah, this is my biggest knitting downfall. I don’t even really *like* knitting socks, but the damn sock yarn is IRRESISTIBLE. According to Ravelry I have 113 skeins of fingering weight sock yarn (and it’s possible there’s more en route…) so I doubt I’ll be knitting more than I put in, but I really want to find projects to use up this yarn that isn’t socks, so I’ll be keeping an eye on your queue!
You are not the only one that does this. Really. It took me one afternoon to gather all my sock yarn and put them in the vicinity of each other. Just the sock yarn.
I, too, love sock yarns and have my fair share in the stash. I’m always looking for creative ways to knit them up, and it definitely doesn’t have to be socks. Recently I made a baby sweater and a baby vest – that’s 5-6 skeins of sock yarn, all gone! I like your plan to use up your sock yarn stash, and I’ll be watching your adventures eagerly!
oh of course, sock yarn is so easy to accumulate.. it already fits any number of patterns, just needs a unique quality to sell it.
here’s an idea – what about, for every birthday that comes up in the next year, the person gets socks?
Nice list. I also have a giant stash of sock yarn that needs some attention.
You can doooooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
Brilliant use of tagging by the way! I’m in the same boat and have been looking for a lot of patterns that use sock yarn but aren’t socks lately myself. Thanks for sharing your list!
THANK YOU for this public service! I share your love of sock yarn as well and will be referring back here frequently!
I’ve just recently discovered my love of knitting socks and all the gorgeous sock yarns out there. I used to stick with chunkier knits and avoided anything using finer gauge yarns and DPNs, but now wonder why I deprived myself all those years! What a joy it is working with these amazing yarns. Thanks for linking to your list of “non sock” projects – I’ll definitely be taking a closer look.
Sandra
if sock yarn = 4 ply, 2 strands – DK, 3 strands = aran. 4 strands might be excessive, but would = UK chunky, US bulky.
I love your sock yarn list. I have the swirl shawl pattern but am stumped what yarn to use. What are you going to use? I really didn’t want to have to buy that yarn for it but am not sure what else will look nice. I don’t think that I can use a lace weight, do you? I think that non-socks will be lovely.