Pattern 7 – The Very Last Round

This pattern uses about 340 yards variegated sock yarn like Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome or KP Felici.
It was test knit with Pagewood Farms Alyeska.

The specified needles are US 1 – 1.5 (2.25-2.5 mm)

The gauge is 7.5 stitches per inch.

 This pattern also requires 4 vinyl-coated paperclips or paperclip-like stitch markers. It clearly states that regular stitch markers won’t work.

 We know how anxious you all must be to have a champion so, with that in mind, we’ll start this round bright and early on Thursday, May 28^th between 7AM and 10AM.

 Good luck to you all.

Talia’s Wings – Corrections

Attention knitters.  It appears that the version of the pattern that was sent out was not the one that  incorporated all of the corrections worked out between the test knitter and the designer.  We apologize.  A new version is being checked to make sure that it’s correct and ought to be sent out shortly.

Meanwhile, most of the answers are in the errata thread on Ravelry and Julie will answer whatever questions she can. 

Those of you who interpreted the pattern as requiring a patterned sole are fine.  It was supposed to be stockinette but that was not clear.

The new version of the pattern specifies 2 repeats of the wing pattern.

We’ll add answers to your questions and clarify as we can.

Round One Nears The End

It’s about 10:20 am right now and the division standings are:

• For Whom The Ball Rolls – 33
• Great Knitspectations – 25
• Purl & Prejudice – 24
• The House of Seven Cables – 26

It’s all pretty even except for FWTBR.  I wonder why that is? 

Anyway, we’ve seen lot’s of great socks and a bit of drama too with lost sock and tragic gauge issues.  Now it’s time to put Round One of SM3 in the books so those of you who are still trying to finish your pair have until 6 pm on Thursday, April 2nd to post your socks and get the email off to us.  As always, that’s 6 pm our time here on the Eastern Seabord of the U.S.

Please remember to include your division name, nickname and a link to the picture of your fiinished socks, on feet, in your email to us.  It really holds things up when we have to ask for the forgotten details.  To all of you who got it right on the first try we say a huge thank you!

Lastly, our treasure trove of prizes is growing and we’ll give you all a peek soon.  Meanwhile, if you still want to contribute something then just send us and email.  We” try to put up a list of our sponsors for this year soon.  We know how much you enjoy thanking them the way knitters do – with yarn purchases of course.

Last Minute Notes

By this time tomorrow you’ll all have pattern one and the game will start in earnest.  There should be another teaser for you today but we wanted to reiterate a few more serious things too. None of this should be a surprise since I lifted most of the text out of posts from this time last year but it’s important so here it is.

 

1.  You are all wonderful and I’m sure that this is totally unnecessary to say but, we ask that you please remember that the designers worked really hard on these patterns and the only reward that most of them will get is the satisfaction of knowing that you enjoy them.  They are out there in Ravelry and Flickr listening to what you all have to say.  If you love the pattern - let them know.  If you have a problem – ask.  All we ask is that you maintain the positive and collegial tone that Sock Madness is known for.

 

I would also add that the test-knitter for most of these patterns is also an active member of the Ravelry group so if you have questions or concerns you should definitely ask the Ravelry group and it’s likely that you’ll get help right away.

 

2. Please note the information you’ll need to send us when you complete each round.  Just send it to us in an email with “Finished” as the subject.

a. a link to your finished photo over at flickr

b. your name/nickname exactly as it’s listed in your division

c. your division

 

 Most importantly, have fun!

Divided and Tested

The groups are all up now. Just in case you’re curious, there are 199 players this year (it should have been 200 but certain people entered their names twice *you know who you are*. I usesd a decidedly unscientific method to divide you all up into groups – I took the list of 199 and counted off 1,2,3,4…1,2,3,4… simple and random and it works.

I was careful to use the nicknames you requested and linked blogs when they were given. 

By the time you read this I will have sent out a test message to all of the players in all of the groups.  Please check your inbox and your spam filter for it so that we can iron out any problems before the games begin.

Speaking of the games – here’s another teaser to feed the frenzy and add to the speculation.

Let’s Talk SM3

It feels so weird to be logging in to post here again after such an incredibly long time. Over the next week there will be a series of posts here to lay out the details for SM3 and give you all a peek at things to come.

Let’s start with some dates. Sign ups for SME will start on Sunday, March 1st and end on Friday March 6th or possibly sooner if it starts to get too full. The first pattern will be released on Thursday, March 19th. Our target number for players is about 200 so you’ll want to sign up as close to March first as possible.

As in the past we ask that you just send an email to sockmadness@gmail.com and put “SM3 Sign Up” in the subject line. In the body of the email please include the email address you would like us to use for contacting you, a statement that you agree to respect the copyright of the patterns, and also the name/nickname or whatever you want us to call you throughout the competition. If you want that to be your email address, that’s okay, you just need to let us know.

Just to be clear, you don’t need to have a blog but you do need to have a flickr account for posting photos of your finished socks once the competition starts. Since most players are on Ravelry it’s advisable to have a Ravelry account too. There is a lively discussion in the Sock Madness Forever group there and it’s the best place to go for encouragement or advice during the tournament.

Please note – we will not respond to sign up emails. We will just compile them into groups of players. Don’t send follow ups to your sign up email until after the groups are posted. We will not respond. If you don’t see your name once the groups are posted then you can send a follow up email and we can make corrections.

Simple, right? Just send us an email. Comments on this post will not be recognized as signing up. Just send us an email.

Put Your Thinking Caps On

The voting for your favorite Godmother Socks will start tomorrow.  Today it’s time to talk about the designs for next year and when we need them by. 

There have been lots of great ideas discussed and it’s time to start putting them on paper.  We’re not too restrictive in terms of theme or style but we do have some requests and suggestions.

Yarn requirements – all submitted designs must be for fingering or sport weight yarn.  This year one design used lace weight but it was an unusual case and held double throughout so that it came close to a fingering weight yarn.  The most important thing to note is that socks using DK or Worsted weight yarn don’t work for us and as lovely as the pattern may be, we just can’t use them.  They’d be too quick.  We also recognize that buying yarn for 7 spairs of socks, sight unseen is difficult enough without having to buy a broad range of yarns.  For the reasons – fingering or sportweight yarn only please.

What we look for – something interesting.  We have yet to see the dreaded intarsia design or one that uses an unusual architecture like a sideways sock or a Cat Bordhi type sock but we’re open to it.  We are  also open to any pattern that will introduce something new and exciting.  Socks with stories go over well as do socks that include an unexpected curve ball.  Asymmetry would be good. Socks that have patterning  with different intervals or that changes in some way as the sock progresses. There are many patterns where one motif is repeated throughout the length of the sock.  These are lovely but unless they possess a twist that will make our knitters gasp they are unlikely to work in SM3.  In short – shock us!  Give us a pattern that will have the players quaking in their comfy knitting spots and you’ve got a winner.  Just remember – it’s got to look cool.  Weird for weird’s sake isn’t good either. 

Are you inspired and ready to put pen to paper?  Ok then.  We’d like to see your patterns by September 1, 2008.  Some of you saw my post on my personal blog yesterday and  know that I’m working on another big project right now.  By December and January I suspect that SM3 won’t be my main priority so if this is going to work we’re going to need the patterns well in advance so that we’ll have time to test them well and set the roster. 

Please spread the word.  I know that there are places where designers discuss such things.  We’d be really grateful  to anyone who helps get the word out.  Every year there are people who come to us after the Madness is underway and want to know how to submit a design.  It would be great if we could reach them now.

Let us know if you even think that you may have a design for us.  If our inbox is too quiet it’ll freak us out.  Remember how close we came to scrapping SM2 due to lack of designs?  Please let’s avoid the panic stage this year.  Let’s raise the bar and make SM3 even better than the first 2!

Attention Tennessee Division

Some of you may have noticed a quiet little post on one of the Ravelry threads from Dragoncelt.  She realized late yesterday that she made a mistake with her toes that resulted in faster decreases.  She has given up her spot for someone who finished correctly.  Unfortunately, we’re having a hard time figuring out who that twelfth person ought to be because many socks posted to flickr don’t have divisions listed.  Please, remember to identify yourself when you post because it helps everyone.

For now, we need to settle on who will be Tennessee number 12.  Here’s how we’re going to do it.  If you are in the Tennessee Division, have a finished pair of Slippin’ Stripin’ Socks, and you are NOT one of the first eleven – please post a picture and email us with a subject “Tennessee 12” by 7pm (my time) tonight.  We’ll choose one random knitter from among you to take the last spot.

74 Zombies!

As of 9:20 this morning the divisions are up to date and the numbers look like this:
Baylor Ball Bands: 14

UConn Cast Ons: 24

Maryland Merino Madness: 20

Tennessee Twisted Knitters: 16

Looks like this round is going to go on for a bit longer so those of you struggling to finish still have a really good chance!

On an administrative note, we cannot stress enough how important it is for you to send in the correct information when you finish your socks.  You need 3 things:

1. a link to your finished photo over at flickr

2. your name/nickname exactly as it’s listed in your division

3. your division

Simple, right?  So, please please please for our sanity, be sure and include the correct stuff in your email.  Thanks!

Carole and Hillary

Last Minute

Well, tomorrow is the first pattern release so here are a few last minute comments and details.  It’s mostly random stuff so I’ll give it to you in bullet points.

• You are all wonderful and I’m sure that this is totally unnecessary to say but, we ask that you please remember that the designers worked really hard on these patterns and the only reward that most of them will get is the satisfaction of knowing that you enjoy them.  They are out there in Ravelry and Flickr listening to what you all have to say.  If you love the pattern - let them know.  If you have a problem – ask.  All we ask is that you maintain the positive and collegial tone that Sock Madness is known for.
• You should have received a “Test” message this morning.  We just wanted to check and make sure that all of the emails are working so that you all receive the pattern tomorrow without difficulty.  Very few messages bounced back.  If you didn’t get a test message from us this morning – please let us know right away.
• The Maryland and Tennessee colors are ready and they are great.  You can find announcements on Ravelry and Flickr with links.  If you want to find the yarn, you can find the link to the Knit Front & Back etsy site here, on the prize page, and the supplier page. 
• The Creative Awards – we’ll wait about about 10-14 days after the pattern is released to select the socks for your votes.  I think that it will depend upon how quickly you are all finishing.  We’ll probably give you a day or so of notice that all socks posted by X (insert time & date here) will be considered for the Round X creative award.  We will choose our favorite 10 versions of the sock and present them in a poll for the general public to vote on.

Please remember to post to flickr as well as Ravelry so that everyone can benefit from the discussion.  Have a great time.