Gift-knit socks, in use

It took a long time to organize, but I finally got the SockMonsters to pose for me with the socks I knit them for Christmas:

They were very kind and even pulled up their pantlegs a bit to show off the full effect.

The stripes here are very different - they're both Vesper yarns, big surprise, but one orange stripies on SockMonster Two are a Halloween colourway (Spooktacular), and the blue reds on SockMonster One are not (Fire and Ice).  Still: they get worn much the same way.

There's just a little something wrong.  Something I noticed while taking the pictures, and especially when I was resizing them to post here. Something no knitter ever wants to see.

Probably just a trick of the eye, right?  Or maybe the sloppy way SockMonsters throw on their socks and/or forget to pull them up again after pulling them out of boots.  Let's just not think about it, while there are such nice socks to look at.

It's hard not to want to knit socks for boys who pose them so well.  Even if they are boys, and not grownups.  As in, people whose feet are still growing.  GAH.

Feet aren't supposed to grow just a few weeks after their owners got new socks to put on them!

Me: SockMonster Number One, are you sure those socks are still long enough for you?

SockMonster Number One: Absolutely!  They feel great.

Me: But they're really pulling through the heel.  I mean, it looks like you're walking on the bottom of the leg part.

SockMonster Number One: Nope.

Me: H'mmmm.

SockMonster Two must be happy - his feet are smaller, so he'll get next refusal on what One's outgrown.

But it seems as though SockMonster One is also content.  And really, there's only another month or two that these guys will want wool on their feet, so I'm going to try not to beat myself up about the whole thing.

I think if I do knit them socks again though, I will knit them a bit longer in the foot than I think they need, and give them to them the moment they're done instead of waiting for an event.  Because ouch: the pain of all those hours of knitting, and not getting it right!

(it's not all bad: these socks are both my size, and the Monsters agreed to donate them back to me when they've both outgrown them.  worst case, I'll have to mend holes, but at this rate they won't get enough use out of them to make any of those.)

Gift knits do go wrong.  When I was young and thoughtless I knit a romper thing for a co-worker's baby to be, and I took so long knitting such a starter size that his parents had to squeeze it over him to send me a picture of how cute it looked on him.  They were even kind enough to make a point of saying how well it fit.  Learned my lesson there - too-big cardis and bonnets and booties after that.  But I do hope they had another baby afterward who could make better use of it.

Inexperience is not the only problem in gift knitting, either.  Recently I gave one of my handspun cowls as a hostess gift, not realizing that said hostess is allergic to wool.  Sigh... at least it's something you can wear over other clothes and behind a collar, for a warming necklace effect.

Even so... gift knits are just terribly satisfying when they go well - it's still worth making them instead of just knitting for ourselves all the time, ahem.

Okay, time for me to go tackle a project or two.  Take care today and I will see you tomorrow!