Sunday, August 06, 2017

Smooth Operator Socks Anniversary Celebration!


Hi, Knitters,
I'm checking in on this lovely Sunday. I hope you are well. We are having a little cooler weather for August which is really pleasant. Today is supposed to be in the mid-70s for a high. I like it. I have been knitting up a storm and I have some fun things coming out this fall so I am looking forward to that. I'll keep you posted if you are interested.

Today, I am celebrating the one year anniversary of my Smooth Operator Socks pattern which was published last summer. This sock pattern/tutorial has become my most popular pattern of all time. In order to make the first anniversary a little special I made some additions to the pattern and I discounted the price.

The Smooth Operator Socks pattern is on sale for $3.50 from Aug. 5-12, 2017! No code is necessary. The pattern will return to the regular price of $5.00 on Aug.13, 2017.



So I've added a couple of new things. 

The first is a new additional tutorial has been added to the Variation Notes at the end of the Smooth Operator Socks pattern. The new tutorial is called No Waste Yarn Afterthought Heel and it takes you step-by-step through how to cut directly into the sock to make the opening for the afterthought heel. It's an even simpler way of adding in an afterthought heel with less fuss.


The second thing I've added is a recipe for adding the beautiful heart motif to your Smooth Operator Socks over on the Barrett Wool Co. Journal. There is a chart and there are general instructions to help you do this. I love the look of these heart-filled socks. The heart instructions do not include the full sock pattern. 


The yarn in the photos is Barrett Wool Co. Home Fingering Weight in the Red Flannel colorway. One skein is plenty for an adult-size pair of socks. 



The Heart motif will work on any type of yarn, solid, striped, tonal or gradient. 


Have fun if you partake in the Smooth Operator Socks pattern discount or if you add hearts to your next pair of SOSocks. Keep me posted.

We have re-stocked handmade faux-fur pom-poms in the Mercantile and we got some new colors! If you order a skein of Home Worsted Weight or Wisconsin Woolen Spun Worsted Weight we will kit-it-up for you to make an Entwined Hat kit. Let us know on your order if this is something you would like us to do.


Okay, Friends, have a super Sunday. I will be back soon with more. I hope you are having a fantastic day.

xo ~ susan

7 comments:

Holly said...

Lovely pattern

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great discount and the new heart sock pattern is SO CUTE! Love it.
I wonder if you have thought about doing a video on the heel portion. I have been hesitant to do that for fear I would mess it up. I feel a video would be helpful! Thanks so much for all you do! Love ya!

Mindy said...

Love the addition of the heart motif!

jre said...

Seeing your promotion of the one year anniversary of the SOS finally convinced me to try making socks. And now I'm halfway through my swatch to check gauge. Whee! But I have a question about the swatch ... the directions say to use stockinette stitch, but there isn't really any stockinette stitch in the sock. It's all knitting, round and round. For a sweater worked in the round, I've seen other folks do a tube for a swatch, or simply go back to the beginning of each row, leaving a loose thread in the back. (the Grocery Girls talk about this in their launch of their summer KAL a couple of months ago) Is this necessary? Or is the row gauge not so sensitive that the purl rows' difference is something to worry about? I'm going to keep going, knitting and purling in the swatch, because all the length decisions are based on measurements, not row count. But I remain interested in this question of whether and when a gauge swatch for socks should be done using only knitting, always from the same side. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Susan. Thanks for the wonderful heart sock pattern I've asked a couple of times if you have thought about doing a video on the SOS on the heel for a newbie like me but all my request have gone to trash. I have no confidence in what you have come up on the heel portion of the pattern. Love following you.
Thanks for all you do!
Debi

Susan B. Anderson said...

HI, Debi,
I don't think I'll be doing a video for the SOS pattern BUT I do have an idea for you. I taught an online video sock class through Craftsy.com called My First Toe-Up Socks and in this class I demonstrate an afterthought heel in detail. If you are interested there is an affiliate link for the class on the sidebar of my blog for 50% off the class price if you click through that link.

I'm sorry that your comment wasn't posted sooner, I just saw it right now.

Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it.
Susan

Susan B. Anderson said...

Dear jre,
Sorry to not answer sooner, I just saw this comment.

To answer your first question, stockinette stitch in the round is just knitting every round. The stockinette stitch fabric worked flat is the same as stockinette stitch worked in the round, it is the knit stitch on the right side of the fabric and the purl stitch on the wrong side of the fabric. The socks are in stockinette stitch worked in the round.

Okay, so as far as a swatch, gauge is really important for socks in order to get the correct fit. What I do, since it is a small project, is just start the actual sock and measure the gauge when I get in two or three inches from the cast on edge. This way if the gauge is correct I can just keep going, if it isn't correct I just pull it out and start again.

I hope this helps to answer your questions!
Have a wonderful day.
Susan