Sock Madness

My kids are away at sleep away camp so my I finally have time to do all of the things that I’ve put off - like officially launching Sock Madness 2.  Here we go.

I have revised the design guidelines for this round and they can be found here.  Most of the information that you’ll find there is the same as last time but there are a few notable exceptions.  The first change relates to the theme… or lack thereof.  It seemed to me that the requirement that all patterns include “mad” in the title was a bit restrictive.  This time there is no specific theme.  Instead we simply ask that you be as creative as possible.  We are looking for patterns that are innovative and unique.  Patterns can be toe-up or top down, side to side or anything else that you can dream up.   Cables, lace, fair isle and, yes, intarsia are all welcome.   If possible, the sock should tell a story.  Although use of stitch dictionaries like Barbara Walker are just fine, I think that it definitely adds something when there is some cool little anecdote that accompanies the pattern and gives us insight into what the designer was thinking.  Be creative and challenge us!

The other big change this year is the timeline.  The patterns are due a bit earlier - in November - so that we’ll have more time for test knitting and editing the patterns.  The tentative timeline is up and you can find it here.

If you are a designer or aspire to be one then please consider designing for SM2.  If you know of anyone who you think could design something great for us then spread the word.  Without challenging and fun designs there will be no SM2 so let’s get going. 

If you have questions, feel free to email us at sockmadness at gmail dot com.

I arrived home late last Thursday night to find a box that was jam-packed with treats for Felicia and I.  Friday was such a hard day because I decided to wait until that night to open the box with Felicia. This is the part of the contents that was tagged for me.

This was Felicia’s share.

It was all wrapped in color coded tissue paper so we knew what was whose.  I have to tell you that, as we sat there with a pile of lovely gifts spread in from of each of us it felt a little like Hanukkah.  We opened each gift one at a time and each of them was wonderful.  There was Soak and foot lotion in my favorite scents - citrus!  There were stitch markers, mini sock blockers, korean goodies, a crocheted project bag, yarn and chocolate and more.  Can you believe that the chocolate wasn’t harmed at by the heat as it made it’s way across the country?  It wasn’t at all.  It arrived in perfect form and smelling fabulous.  It also scented all the other packages and let me tell you…  that yarn looked good enough to eat without smelling like chocolate.  One of the best things was that the yarn was all stuff I don’t have yet and all gorgeous.  There was silk/cashmere from Jo and lots of yummy sock yarn!  I also love that, like our competition, had a little international flair.  So amazingly cool!

We send our gratitude to Jean, Deborah, Cindy, Jo, Bridget, Jennifer, Julie, Laurie, Tezz, Brittany and especially Vikkie who put it all together so nicely.

Thank you so much for a lovely surprise!