Cottage socks are different from average, everyday, city socks.  City socks are thin, orderly, neat and always found in matching pairs.  Cottage socks are rebels.  They are comprised of colours that do not match anything nor with each other.  They are independent spirits drifting along in the Great White North.

Cottage socks are made from all the odds and ends of leftover sock yarn.  As long as the weight of the yarn is the same, you can be as creative as you want.  Nothing needs to match, no stressing if the colour pattern of the left sock perfectly mirrors that of the right sock.  It is an opportunity to use up those small amounts of yarn that sit abandoned in the bottom of your knitting bag.  Hmmmmm….I see a new trend developing, I best put my marketing hat on and snag the patent asap.

Here in the cold, Canadian North, cottage socks are a necessity.  No one cares what they look like as long as they do their job, which is to keep your feet warm during -30C winter weather.  Red Green would be proud to wear a pair of my Cottage Socks (for those of you that do not know who Red Green is, click here) and I may send him a pair to try out.  I made the above pair of socks using up 3 leftover balls of Knit Picks Stroll™ Tweed yarn, I loved this yarn, so soft and so easy to work with.  The above pattern is Simple Skyp Socks from the Ravelry site, a very easy pattern to do, it is just a 2 row repeat that you can do in your sleep.

So this leads me to a challenge….a challenge for all you knitters out there, here is your opportunity to sift through your banished stash of leftovers to make your own Cottage Socks, then email me a snapshot of your creation.  Send your pics to: gitana1962@live.com, and in a couple weeks, I will showcase your hard earned work in a follow up post.  Oh, and having a cottage isn’t a requirement for making Cottage Socks or for wearing them either…

Happy Knitting!