Handmade Christmas Gifts I - The Great Sock Marathon

For the last three years I have knitted my dad a pair of socks for his Christmas present. This is the result of this fine looking lady, my great-grandmother Edith Lily. She loved knitting socks so much she was painted knitting them. As my dad was from a very large family (he was one of seven and his father one of nine) she couldn't knit enough socks for all her children and grandchildren, so my dad never got any.

The first two pairs I knitted for him were fairly simple (you can see last years ones here) the biggest problem has been the rather large size of his feet. This year I decided to knit him a pair of argyle socks. Why embark on such project you might well ask? It's partly because I was given a book with a pattern for argyle socks in, and partly as I remember dad telling me his father used to wear argyle socks with plus fours. 

Not my grandfather, but what fine trousers and socks these chaps have!

Well all I can say is filial piety known no great love than knitting a pair of argyle sock for your father when he has size 13 feet! But they were completed by Christmas, and here they are modelled by my dad, although not in plus fours.

Channelling Edith Lily Socks

I am pretty pleased with them, although I won't be rushing to make another pair. And dad seems fairly pleased with them too. Even my mum is happy with them as I used machine washable wool, unlike last year!

Zio Calze

And because knitting one pair of large and complicated socks in time for Christmas is not enough, I decided this year to make a pair of sock for my Italian uncle as well. Lucky, he takes a modest size nine shoe, so there was a lot less knitting and I stuck to a simple ribbed sock pattern. I forgot to take a picture of them over Christmas, so here is a picture I took half way through knitting.

I think you can see why I was complaining in my last post that I felt that I hadn't knitted something for myself for ages. Plus, this is only the first instalment of my handmade Christmas gifts ... there is still the foxy whiskered gentleman hat, amongst others, to go.