Spring Sock Reset

Hello, hello, it’s Friday and I hope you’ve had a lovely week!

Before we get into today’s post which is all about the Spring Sock Reset that I mentioned last week in the Kaleidoscope Socks pattern post, I must say thank you very much to everyone who bought a copy of the pattern.  I’m absolutely delighted that you like the look of it and want to knit your own socks in this pattern!  I hope they turn out very well for you!

So, what’s this Spring Sock Reset malarkey all about?  Well, as I mentioned last week, it’s about welcoming the spring season into our knitting endeavours and dusting the cobwebs off some of the yarn and projects that might have been hibernating (read: cast aside for the new and shiny, thrown into a corner for misbehaving, just not what we want to knit any more) and having a good look at them in the light of day.

It’s not just for those of us who already knit socks, though (and you can include any other projects that you’re knitting too, I’m just permanently focussed on the socks 🙂 ), it’s also for people who have been waiting for the right time to get started.  I will tell you that it’s always the right time to learn to knit socks, but I also know that life gets in the way sometimes – and sometimes we just need a reminder that learning is on our to-do list.

Here’s what I wrote last week:

 

Who is the Spring Sock Reset for?

It’s for all of us!  Anybody who has put their socks aside but now, with the world waking up again, you’re ready to dust off your needles, dive into your stash (or even more exciting, head to a yarn shop or yarn show), and get a brand new sock onto your needles.

Or perhaps you’ve been waiting for the right time to learn how to knit socks.  It’s still Easter holiday time in the UK and you might have a little more time if children are off school and you’re off work.  The lighter nights are definitely an encouragement to start a new craft or hobby, and sock knitting is a fabulous hobby.  Yes, I do think that sock knitting is a fabulous hobby and no, I am not biased at all! 🙂

💜  You can check out the Winwick Mum Sockalong tutorials for the Basic 4ply Socks pattern and step-by-step help.

Maybe you’ve got holidays lined up for later in the year and need a project to take with you?  Might I suggest a small project bag with a ball of sock yarn and some needles … no need to lug around big projects that might be hot or heavy to travel with – socks LOVE to go on adventures and get out and about in the world.  This is the ideal time to start thinking about projects to take, how many patterns and how much yarn (you may need to start planning earlier if you think there’s a danger you won’t have room in your case for any clothes), and then when it’s time to head off, you’re all set.

💜  Have a look at the patterns I’ve got here and see if there’s anything that takes your fancy: Winwick Mum Patterns and Printables  You can still use the code SPRING for a 15% discount on any of my patterns (including the new Kaleidoscope Socks pattern) until Saturday 25 April 2026 if this is the encouragement you need to get a new sock onto your needles!

 

How does it work?

It’s really simple – I’m encouraging everyone to free their sock needles from wherever they might have been hiding recently and get started with something new!  Basic 4ply Socks, children’s socks, a new pattern to build confidence and expand skills … let the sunshine in and cast on for the new season!

However, if starting something new doesn’t appeal, there are lots of ways that you can do your own Spring Sock Reset.  You can finish off some of those hibernating WIPs that might have been around for just a bit too long; you could reorganise your yarn stash to see exactly what you have (it’s so easy for it to build up unchecked), or just let yourself move into the new season and allow yourself to think about where you want your knitting or crafting to take you this year.

There’s no deadline, no pressure, no rules or commitment; the Spring Sock Reset is just a mindset shift that I’ll be doing, and I would be very happy if you wanted to join in with me.

 

I thought you might like to see what I’ve got lined up for my own Spring Sock Reset.

Top of the list, I’ve got to finish the Newborn Vertebrae cardigan that I’ve been knitting as my friend goes on maternity leave from her job next week and the baby is due within a fortnight – I need to get a move on in case everything happens sooner than expected!  This is the same photo as I showed you last time as there’s been no progress, but I’m hoping to have the finished cardigan to show you next week.

Newborn Vertebrae is a free pattern on Ravelry designed as a open-fronted cardigan for newborn close snuggling.  The long length means you can pull it right down over baby’s back so there are no draughts.  I think it’s a lovely pattern and this is the second one I’ve knitted.  The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in Winter Icicle, one of the Winwick Mum colourways (we know what gender the baby is so blue is OK!).

 

I have just about finished off the latest pair of socks I’ve been knitting for my husband.  The choice was whether to sit in the sunshine and finish the socks or chat with you … and you won! 🙂

I’m really pleased with these, they’ve turned out even nicer than I expected and I’ll be able to show you a proper finished photo in next week’s blog post.  The yarn is Laughing Hens Super Sock * in the shade Cleves.

 

Of course, now that these socks are nearly finished I’m going to need a new pair of socks on my needles.  I’m on a roll with socks for my husband so when my friends at Laughing Hens asked if I’d like to try out their new Cozy Sock 4ply *, I said I would be delighted – and please could I have a ball of black yarn for another pair of socks for my husband?  Now, you might think this was a waste of an offer of yarn and I should have picked any colour other than black, but I know that these socks will get worn on a regular basis (just what you need when you’re trying out a new yarn) and I can use one of micro mini skeins that I bought from All Wool That Ends Wool when I went to the TexStyle show last month to add rainbows after the cuff.  The Cozy Sock 4ply comes in 20 colours and is a blend of 75% wool (mulesing free) and 25% nylon.  It doesn’t claim to be merino yarn so it could be a blend, but if it’s mulesing free then you assume that there’s merino in there somewhere.  It certainly feels nice and soft so I’m looking forward to casting on.

Oh, what’s that you’ve spotted – wavy DPNs in that photo?  Let me tell you more!

Along with the ball of yarn came a set of Addi CrasySnake DPNs *, something that’s brand new to the Addi knitting needles family.  You’ve most likely heard of the CrasyTrio needles which came out a few years ago; they’re the ones that are a cross between a very short circular needle and a DPN with a cable that bends between the tips, and the latest addition to the Crasy range is wavy DPNs called CrasySnake.

The packet says they’re designed for long knitting sessions and although I’ve not used DPNs for a full sock for a long time, I’m really interested to see how they work.  They’re a bit shorter than the DPNs I usually go for (the ones I have are 20cm long and these are 15cm), but the idea is that the bend in the metal stops stitches falling off so if that’s a problem you have, these might be for you!

There are five needles in the pack and they come in five sizes from 2.0 to 3.5mm which are really good sizes for sock knitting – that covers you from 4ply to DK yarn!

If you’ve used these before, do let me know what you think!

 

That’s not all the projects I’ve got for my reset this spring.  Uh oh, there’s quite a bit more!  I’ve got to unpick the polo t-shirt that came out way too big so that I can re-knit that …

This is definitely a project that’s hibernating as the thought of unravelling all that work is heartbreaking … but it will be worth it when I have something I can actually wear!

I also need to get on and re-start my Aardvarkish Shawl that I unravelled when I discovered that I was unable to count to 411 (the number of cast on stitches) and I’d also made that massively too big.  Oh, the heartbreak of all that being unravelled too, but there’s absolutely no point in keeping projects and yarn that are not right, is there?  That’s what the Spring Sock Reset is all about.

 

One of the things I’m going to do over this next week is have a good look and see what’s in all these storage boxes.  The four boxes with labels contain my hand-dyed stash (2 boxes) plus laceweight and some other skeins in the other two boxes.  The smaller ones at the top have a mix of balls of yarn (4ply, 6ply and quite a lot of tinsel yarn that I obviously bought for Christmas decorations at one point) and the baskets have WIPs (works in progress) in them that I have talked about on the blog before – oh my goodness, I’ve just looked for the post and it was during Blogtober 2020!  Well, I’m embarrassed to tell you that not one of those WIPs have progressed by even one stitch since then so I really do need to think about whether I want to keep them or not!

And I think that’s quite enough to be going on with in the yarn department!  Phew!

 

I’m interested to see how the Spring Sock Reset changes other things as I think that making a change in one area can’t help but have a knock-on effect with other areas of your life too.

I’ve been making an effort to go to bed a bit earlier so that I can start reading again.  I find myself consumed by a book, and then when it’s finished I get distracted by something else and reading goes off the radar again.

I’m currently about half-way through reading The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (Amazon link).  That’s been a really interesting read, and as you might guess from the title, it’s about not trying to control what other people do.  The theory has its roots in Buddhism and Stoicism and I’m not unfamiliar with the basic idea, but the book is written in a very accessible way and I’ve definitely learnt something new from reading it.

I’ve also downloaded a copy of a book today called The 5am Club by Robin Sharma (this is also an Amazon link – I saw it mentioned on social media and was going to buy it but Amazon will let me borrow it first – I have no problem at all with buying it if I think it’s useful and I know the author will get paid for the loan whatever I do.)  Knowing myself as well as I do, I will probably start it tonight without waiting to finish the Mel Robbins book but it’s fine to read two books at once 🙂  The premise of this book is that getting up super-early does wonders for your productivity and I like the idea of an early start making me more productive and hopefully inspiring me to want to get on with resetting the rest of the house, never mind just my knitting and boxes of yarn – although I can tell you now that it’s unlikely I will be getting up at 5am unless there’s a very good reason!

 

I’m hoping that the Spring Sock Reset is really going to set me up for the rest of the year, and I hope it works that way for you too!

 

 

* These are Laughing Hens.  I only ever link to products that I use myself and I much prefer the control I have over affiliate links compared to ads – and there aren’t nearly as many of them as ads either!  I don’t regret taking the ads off my blog at all, but you will see affiliate links in my posts as this is one of the ways I support the blog now 🙂 xx