Wednesday 22 November 2017

Dobby Socks

It was as soon as Daniel started university that he started wearing odd socks. For some reason it really annoys me, I mean, how long does it take to sort a few socks into pairs? On the odd occasion that he came home for a weekend, he would bring his washing with him and I'd, once again, sort all the socks into pairs, but the next time I saw him he'd be back to wearing odd socks.

When it came to knitting his Christmas socks I decided that I might as well just play along with him so I've knit one sock with blue heels and toes and one with green heels and toes. Perhaps he'll wear them more than he would if they match.


I've used Virginia Rose-Jeanes' Vanilla Latte Socks pattern which is free on Ravelry. The main body of the sock is knit in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in the Poppy Seed colourway and the heels and toes have been knit in Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn in the Sage and China Blue colourways. Dobby, the house elf in the Harry Potter books likes wearing odd socks too so I've decided to call these Daniel's Dobby Socks.


They look a bit odd in the photo above as they're bigger than the sock blockers they're shown on, but they should fit Daniel's feet perfectly.


I'm now very close to finishing my Christmas knitting.

40 comments:

  1. My 17 yr old likes to wear odd socks too and ones with holes in - very annoying. They do look great and like my son, he'll probably keep them together now. My son took apart two pairs of socks to pair up together. Totally weird!

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    1. I think odd socks have become a thing for young people, though Daniel's never really followed fashions, I think he's just too lazy to find a pair and wears the first two socks he pulls out of the drawer.

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  2. I love the socks & the story behind them. Hope he appreciates his Dobby socks. Take care.

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    1. I think he'll definitely like them more than he would if they matched, funny thing he is.

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    1. I'm sure they'll raise a smile when he opens them on Christmas Day.

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  4. I find odd socks a bit annoying as well, as you say, how long does it take?! Lovely job on the new pair, very nicely done. No doubt the different colours will make him smile. Maybe he'll even wear them both at the same time...

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    1. Perhaps he'll see these socks as a matching odd pair so each one will get worn with something else, we'll have to wait and see.

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  5. Odd socks would drive me a little bit mad too but they do look lovely and cosy. X

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    1. I always comment on his socks when I see him, and he always rolls his eyes at me. I just don't see why he can't wear a matching pair.

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  6. The socks look great, Jo. I remember asking someone once if he knew that he had odd socks on. His reply - "it's okay, I have another pair just like these at home!". :oD

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    1. Ha ha, I like that reply, probably something Daniel would say.

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  7. They look wonderful. I love the simplicity of the pattern - perfect for men's socks. I was basically done with my Christmas knitting until my mom (after being asked what she wanted for Christmas) said she would love a pair of knitted socks. Still a month to go but I'm a painfully slow sock knitter so I have a feeling the timing will be tight. The cowl, which was supposed to be a Christmas gift, will now be pushed to her birthday.

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    1. I like this pattern when knitting socks for gifts as there's a little give in the rib pattern which you don't get in plain stocking stitch so the socks tend to fit better. Perfect when they're not being tried on as they're knit. It would probably be tight for me to get a pair of socks knitted in a month too, you'll definitely have to put a bit of work in them each day to get them done in time.

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  8. As a child in the 50's I had lots of Dobby socks. When a sock developed a hole in the heel or toe, my granny knitted a new one from whatever was ti hand. Later on when I could knit, it was my job to do this for my Dad to wear under his police boots. No one blinked an eye because this was the 60's when everyone was still careful with what they had. I laugh now about Make do and Mend classes/blogs/FB pages-I've never known anyvother way of life nor has my DH. You're a super sock knitter but I seem to have lost the notion. Catriona

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    1. You're right, make do and mend is on trend these days but it was a way of life for many people. We now live in a throwaway society but I think people are becoming more aware and trying to reuse or recycle things where they can. My dad always had his socks knit by his mum when he lived at home and he loves the socks I knit for him now, as do the rest of my family.

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  9. Your family members are fortunate that you knit socks for them. The ones you've shown on your blog are always lovely and these ones for Daniel are a great idea.

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    1. I think Daniel will see the funny side of these socks, I think he'll like them too.

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  10. When Stuart was at school, I solved the problem by buying him a dozen pair of black socks, so that he simply had to take two socks out of the drawer each morning!!

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    1. Daniel used to have black socks too but I started buying him ones with a colour or design on them so that his and Mick's didn't get mixed up in the wash.

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  11. Love these socks Jo.
    One of our sons loves to wear socks with a coloured heel and he quite often mixes the pairs ...

    All the best Jan

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    1. Those are the same type of socks which Daniel wears, he never has the same coloured heel on each foot though.

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  12. I love this idea of odd socks.If you can't do that when you are his age you never will.Go for it Daniel!My ten year old granddaughter loves wearing odd socks too.

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    1. I think lots of youngsters do these days, even Eleanor's decided that she quite likes odd socks now too.

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  13. Boys are like that aren't they? My oldest does the same. Love your odd socks for Christmas, brilliant idea.

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    1. I think it's sheer laziness, though I might be wrong, it might be a fashion statement.

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  14. I've never worn odd socks as it would really annoy me doing so. xx

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    1. It would me too. I like my socks in pairs.

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  15. What a great idea for the socks, querky and fun, Rebecca seems to favour odd socks too, very strange. xcx

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    1. I thought they'd be quite fun, I'm sure they'll raise a smile when Daniel sees them.

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  16. Your post made me chuckle. Imogen wears odd socks all the time and I’m afraid I just don’t ‘get’ it at all. I find it particularly frustrating when I’m trying to match socks from the laundry to be put away. Loving the Dobby socks though... and their name xx

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    1. I'm the same, looking to match pairs of socks up in the washing but they're all odd, it drives me mad. I think Daniel's Dobby Socks will make him smile.

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  17. Loving Daniels socks, and i'm sure he will too :-)

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    1. They're a bit of fun and I'm sure he'll like them enough to wear them.

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  18. This had me laughing! Brilliant! If you can't beat them eh?xxx

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    1. I think they'll definitely raise a smile on Christmas morning.

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  19. Thom has decided to start wearing odd socks, no idea why. I figure it's less work for me when sorting the laundry. He doesn't wear his handknit socks odd though (mind you he only has one pair and they're kind of odd anyway)

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    1. I suppose I should just go with it and leave all the socks single instead of trying to pair them up, but then my OCD nature just won't allow it. It'll be interesting to see what he does with these seeing as they're an odd pair.

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  20. I like it's an excellently quirky idea to knit in the two different colours. I bet they raise a smile when they are opened!
    Lisa x

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    1. I'm sure they will, Daniel knows how much it annoys me when he wears odd socks so he'll think it's funny that I've knit odd socks for him.

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