Letting my socks out

This post is more or less for pinkstockings, in response to her comment. ;-) I will love any socks that you choose to knit for me. I have no problem with handwashing the socks either. And to either help, and hopefully not confuse you, I thought I'd pull out all my socks and show you:

Here they are with my favorite shoes. Each sock has a story. And just to bore you (and since my kids were not interested in hearing it), here the scoop from left to right:
1. The striped pink yarn was a gift in a past bottleswap. These were my first toe-up socks and since they are thicker than most of my other socks, they were super quick to knit. (you can read about them in my March archive). I still have not worn these, but various family members have used them for slippers and say they are very cozy.
2. The pink/turqouise ones. This yarn (Lorna's Laces) was my 1st e-bay purchase. My LYS was very low on their stock of LL and this opened my eyes to the world of e-bay. The pattern is Dublin Bay from Mossy Cottage Knits. I made these while traveling to visit my sister with my parents. And for some reason these socks bring back memories of great conversations with my Dad.
3. The red socks. This yarn (Opal) was given to me by my knitting buddy, who is seriously the best knitter I know. She bought the yarn in Germany (where I was born and raised until 3rd grade when we moved to Austria), making them extra special to me. I love how the Broadripple pattern enhances the stripes. The really neat thing is that I knit another pair of these (my Mom has those) for the Six-Sox group and won a copy of the pattern autographed by Rob.
4. The maroon/gray ones. I bought this yarn (Froehlich Wolle - Die tolle Wolle) at a little LYS close to me. I love this yarn and was sad to hear it was discontinued ages ago. I made my Dad a pair from this yarn (different color) too. These were one of the 1st pairs I made for myself. I started them during a time that school was very stressful and I needed to give myself a treat. I put a movie in for my boys and went and cuddled up in my bed and knit away. Now everytime I wear these socks I feel relaxed.
5. The light pink ones. This is also Lorna's Laces yarn, which I bought at my LYS. These were knit while studying for my African-American History final. My favorite part of these is the ribbing at the top. They are little cables. The rest of the sock is just plain stockinette, since I had to be able to read and knit.
6. The last socks are one of my favorite. They are Regia Disco. I bought the yarn from Bonnie's Spinning Wheel (a very friendly, great store) on our way to our vacation spot. I think the yarn is hilarious. I remember during my teen years there was a disco near the town we lived in in Austria. Being a pastor's daughter and a bit too young, I never actually saw the inside and the curosity has remained with me. I'm not a bar/club type of a girl, so I find the curosity I still have amusing. When I saw this yarn, in very conservative browns, I knew I had to have it. I can wear them and remember to enjoy the little parts of me that make me unique. (and according to my siblings wierd....hehe).
So there you are. The stories of my socks so far. This past week I also actually started 2 socks for me:

The black pair is the Opal yarn my Dad found last week. I used the Peak Experience pattern and added 8 stitches when I got to the leg. You can see the how the pattern/colors actually look diferent because of this. But, the 8 stitches made the leg way too big and I'm not sure if this is the best pattern for this yarn. So, these socks are on hold.
The other pair are ones I started at the beach on Saturday. I realized that working on my son's red wool socks in the hot sun was crazy. So, I quick grabbed this Sockotta yarn (purchased on e-bay ages ago) and started this pair. I saw this ribbing on someone's blog (can't remember who) and I really liked it. The colors are also really fun. One also begins to wonder if I have huge feet after looking at this picture. (I do, sorry pinkstockings).
I have yet to knit recycled socks. But, I did buy an old Woolrich sweater that had been well-loved. It will become socks for my brother for Christmas.
Wow, either I'm way too sentimental or have too much time on my hands, huh? To prevent you from pondering this question, here is a picture of my father with my youngest son:

This was taken on our way home from the beach this weekend. It is a tradition to stop for ice cream on the way home. As my son was eating his, he suddenly said: 'Look Mommy, I have a white beard over my mouth - just like Opa's!'.