THIRD ANNUAL SHOW ME YOUR SOCKS CONTEST!

Yes, it's that time of year again.  Although it's still (as my grandma would say) hotter than the hinges of Hades here, a hint of fall is in the air and that turns us to thoughts of wearing those toasty warm socks we've all been busy knitting all summer, and to pulling out our favorites from years past.  Because I'm crazy like that, I want to see them.  Yes, it's time to Show Me Your Socks!

This year's theme is "First and Last."  Here's the "rules."

• Take a photo of the very first pair of socks you ever knit, as well as your last/latest pair.
• The rules interpret "first and last" very loosely, ergo, you can show me - TWO complete pairs; ONE complete pair and one or less sock in progress; ONE sock in progress (if it is both your first and latest pair); a skein of sock yarn and needles, and/or a sock pattern you intend to knit for your first/last pair. 
• There will be a special prize for the most creative photo.  Everyone did such a great job with this last year!

Will there be prizes, you say?  Of course!  This time, instead of me choosing which yarn to send to each winner, I will let you choose your favorite, in order of random number drawing, one through four.  Here are the prize yarns (there may also be a few other goodies thrown in for good measure, but that will be the surprise portion of the contest.)

    

This last is 450 yds of hand-dyed 100% merino sock yarn from a company it seems may no longer be in business.  But it's lovely and soft!

The winner of Best in Show Photo will receive a skein of the elusive and much sought after Trekking #126, as well as a few surprise goodies.

To get you started, here is my very first pair of socks.

Mountain Colors "Mountain Goat" using the Knitting Pure & Simple "Beginner Lightweight Socks" pattern.  They are bit big, so I use them for around the house socks when it gets very cold.  I found that pattern a great introduction to sock knitting, and still incorporate some of its elements into every sock I make.  I finished this pair in March of 2004.

My last pair (#93)

Monkey Socks, from Knitty.  SWTC Tofutsies - #724 "Foot the Bill" 

And the first sock of my current pair.

Trekking Pro Natura.  I'm using an old favorite pattern, "Blueberry Waffle Socks."

To enter the contest, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post with a link to a photo of your socks.  The contest will remain open until midnight ESDT, on Monday, October 1st.  So get those socks out and the cameras clicking.  I'm waiting to see your socks!!

Comments

[Lia]

Whoops, I think I missed the dead line, missed the E part of the EDT.

Anyway, posted my socks on my blog:
http://fruitysheep.blogspot.com/2007/10/socks-and-call-for-kids-knits-and.html

[Claudia]

OK - I am adding a funny sock picture to my previous entry for the contest - I hope this is OK, Baroness von Sockhausen. On Sunday I knitted two of the Cat Bordhi socks from her latest book in preparation for the class in November. And with the help of Hermione's favorite toy - the green rubber ball - hubby and I got her to pose with the socks last night. Never mind that the colors don't match. ;-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bavgirl/1470886688/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bavgirl/1470891320/

[Andrea (noricum)]

Writing my entry just under the wire: http://noricum.blogspot.com/2007/10/first-and-latest-socks-knit.html

[Karen]

I love contests that have yarn prizes so here is my entry: http://yearnsforyarn.blogspot.com/2007/10/done-almost-done-started-and-ripped.html
All that I have knit over the last 4 years are in my Flikr also.

[Lucia]

Getting in under the wire:

http://rhymeswithfuchsia.blogspot.com/2007/10/fashionista.html

Thanks for a great contest!

[Rise]

Here's my entry for this year's contest.
http://knittingalpacas.blogspot.com/2007/10/first-to-last.html

Thanks for the contest.

[Diane]

This is a fun contest. I've really enjoyed seeing everyone's first socks. Some were quite impressive. Mine? Not so much.

http://andinmysparetime.blogspot.com/2007/10/showing-my-socks.html

[(Still) Blogless Jackie]

Here is my entry to the contest:
http://craftycanines.typepad.com/stuck_on_socks/2007/10/since-last-we-m.html

Try not to be too distracted by the lovely models. They do tend to steal the show in all circumstances.

[Cathy-Cate]

What a fun contest! I enjoyed digging up my past.
Here's the link:
http://hitherandyarn.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/sock-tober-first/

Thanks for doing this -- again!

[paula]

Thanks Jane for hosting this contest. I felt less creative this year, but more sentimental about my first socks. Photos are here, below my future socks:
http://pjbknit.typepad.com/pjbknit/2007/10/past-and-future.html

[Beth]

Here's my post with the photos:
http://craftycanines.typepad.com/stuck_on_socks/2007/10/show-me-your-so.html

[Jenny]

My first ever pair of socks:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1260/1469672718_ea15165063.jpg
My latest pair:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1354/1468819491_8383257e45.jpg
And my blog post about these:
http://spinning-jenny.blogspot.com
Thanks for having this contest.

[OzKnitter]

I just finished my 31st pair tonight!

Pair #1:
http://ozknitter.blogspot.com/2006/02/finished.html

Pair #31:
http://ozknitter.blogspot.com/2007/10/socks-132007.html

[lisa ashton]

Hi Jane,

I am really enjoying looking at all the socks people have entered in this contest, such a variety of yarns and patterns. Thankyou for hosting this contest, it has inspired me to take my socks down to the seaside and do a little photo shoot this afternoon.

Here is the link to my post on my blog which includes two photos of my small but growing collection.

http://plainjanecreations.blogspot.com/2007/10/sock-it-to-you.html

Lisa x

[Sydney]

I finally got pictures of my socks.

http://www.doctordirt.com/blog/arc20070930.htm

[Cynthis Guggemos]

My first sock (note the singular) was made of ugly worsted weight acrylic. I didn't have a pattern, so I just looked at a store bought sock and figured out a short row heel. Aside from the fiber content and the fact that it would have fit the Jolly Green Giant, it wasn't too bad. It looked like a sock, it was just big and ugly. I threw it away. My second and third pairs have long since worn out, so I don't have pictures.

This is my latest pair.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/baxterknits/1420190579/
They are made from Opal yarn, Artist's Series. The pattern is another one that I made up.

[Susie J.]

Well... since I just started, everything is still pretty recent. :) My very first socks were a "training pair" of socks, which ended up fitting my one year old son pretty well. He couldn't figure out what the heck I'd put on his feet, and tried to eat them. http://ramblingsofsusie.blogspot.com/2007/09/at-mandis-request.html (the socks are the last pic on the post)
My "last pair" could describe two different possibilities. I have a "last pair finished" and a "last pair worked on" which is still in progress. Thankfully, they're both on the same link. :) http://ramblingsofsusie.blogspot.com/2007/09/awwwwwww.html

[Rachel]

OK--I'll play but my first, my last, and my current all amount to the same thing! :) One finished, one cast one...the pic for the finished one is...
http://timesweareliving.blogspot.com/2007/09/one-finished.html
and the pic for the start of the second...
http://timesweareliving.blogspot.com/2007/09/its-small-but-its-start.html

Not too exciting but I'm happy to have joined the sock movement!

Cool contest by the way!

[Grace]

What a fun idea! Here is a link that shows my very first pair of socks and my last two pairs:
http://graceknitsalot.blogspot.com/2007/09/alpha-and-omega.html
I love to knit socks!

[Diana]

The first socks I knit were for a friend's baby and I don't have a picture. However, the first adult socks I knit were from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. A nice basic sock knit out of Hot Socks Cotton Stretch.
The last socks I've completed are the ubiquitous Monkeys,(though I altered them to a toe up pattern) and knit from Claudia Hand Painted.I've just got my first digital camera and these pictures are my first attempt to take pictures of my own feet. I'm beginning to really understand the allure of the sock stretchers!
Thanks for the contest, Jane!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyetom/

[Cindy in Oregon]

The first socks I ever knit: http://knitforjoy.blogspot.com/2006/12/socks-101-kal-fini.html - from a sock KAL for an upcoming book about KALs. :)

The last socks I completed: http://flickr.com/photos/49922539@N00/1433870307/in/set-72157601436277608/ - a blurry picture because they're a test knit that hasn't been published yet.

And for fun, the wildest party socks I ever made: http://knitforjoy.blogspot.com/2007/06/just-in-nick-of-time.html - these guys were quite adventurous and are now off having fun in Massachusetts with my Sockapalooza4 pal. :)

[Lauren]

Fun! I've only been knitting socks for about a year and, coincidentally, my first and last pair use the same pattern!

http://www.intertext.com/lauren/2007/09/first_and_last_socks.html

[Danielle]

Squeaking in just under the deadline, I present to you -- my sock post!
http://aswiminknits.blogspot.com/2007/09/warning-recycled-content-ahead.html

[Norma]

I just wrote the post, and here's the link:
http://nownormaknits2.typepad.com/now_norma_knits_2/2007/09/show-your-socks.html

[Lexie]

Here is my first and last pair of socks. On and off my son's feet. http://mommieofdrew.blogspot.com/2007/08/tales-of-traveling-with-5-year-old-part.html

And here is the yarn I intend on making my next pair with.
http://mommieofdrew.blogspot.com/2007/09/on-or-off-needles-and-things-on-hold.html

And here is the pattern I intend on useing for said socks.
http://lynnh.com/patterns/florida.htm

[Janet]

All right I am in. my first and last pair of socks are here: http://adiversewip.blogspot.com/2007/05/another-week-is-gone.html

I have plans to knit 2 more pairs for Christmas.

Great contest.

[Dotty]

(sorry if this is posted twice, I got a broswer error the first time)

This is a great contest! I think everyone's pictures are great, too.

Here is a picture of my first socks:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1380/909992274_24b0ea5c2e_m.jpg
I knit them, didn't like them, and gave them away. They're photographed on the recipient's feet.

This is a picture of my last "pair" of finished socks: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1410/1460281272_f6b454d132.jpg

[Dotty]

This is a great contest! Everyone's pictures are great, too.

Here is a picture of my first pair of socks: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1380/909992274_24b0ea5c2e_m.jpg

I knit them, didn't like them, and gave them away. They're photographed on the recipient's feet.

And here are the last 'pair' of finished socks: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1410/1460281272_f6b454d132.jpg

[Laurie]

I ran across your contest yesterday, and thought it would be fun to see how far I (and others) have come with our sock knitting. You can see my first and latest pairs here:
http://knittinggarden.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-socks-old-socks.html

[kmkat]

I'm in! http://kmkat.typepad.com/kmkat_and_her_kneedles/2007/09/first-and-lates.html

[Kathy in San Jose]

Having fun looking at everyone's socks! Mine is not an artistic photo, as it was a fly-by posting, but take a look at my sock woes on my blog.

http://queenofpurpleyarn.blogspot.com/

[Tanya]

Hi, have to go find them and post them on my site...but my first were a plain basic cuff down with self striping yarn, my last are shown in the blog being knit, same pattern (it's my fav!). I have a 3/4 WIP monkey on the needles though! Love sock knitting....xmas is coming. I am a nail tech so i try to make a few pairs of pedi socks each year for my biggest regulars!

http://turtleslakeknitting.blogspot.com/

[Tanya]

Hi, have to go find them and post them on my site...but my first were a plain basic cuff down with self striping yarn, my last are shown in the blog being knit, same pattern (it's my fav!). I have a 3/4 WIP monkey on the needles though! Love sock knitting....xmas is coming. I am a nail tech so i try to make a few pairs of pedi socks each year for my biggest regulars!

http://turtleslakeknitting.blogspot.com/

[eidolona]

My first ever pair were monkeys, just this past June, and my last pair were some tiny ones I'm sending to my newborn nephew in Minnesota - I think it's already snowing up there! He'll need more as he grows and it gets increasingly cold - yay socktoberfest!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eidolona/

[Stephanie]

Well, I don't have much to show for myself being a very new sock knitter. I've only ever knit one sock!

http://verybusymonkey.blogspot.com/2007/08/so-many-projects-so-little-time.html

I do, however, have great plans to knit a whole pair during socktoberfest this year. I will be using my newly dyed skeins of superwash merino and either the firestarter pattern by Yarnissima or a modified version of the Falling in Love Socks by Anniken Allis from Feb. 2007 MagKnits. I really like the idea of toe-up socks, so I'm partial to these patterns. Here is a picture of the yarn I will be using!

http://verybusymonkey.blogspot.com/2007/09/fos-and-socktoberfest.html

I'm not sure if this rather sad demonstration of my sock knitting counts, but hopefully it will! Oh, and VERY cute kitties, Jane!!!

[Norma]

I'm not much of a sock knitter, as everyone knows, but the other day I was looking in my sock drawer and realized that, to my surprise, I have several pair of handknit socks in there! I'm in! Maybe even this morning. Thanks for giving me something to put in the blog....I was fresh out of ideas and energy.

[Kenyetta]

Great contest! Motivation to finish my Breeze socks.
http://knittykittykat.blogspot.com/2007/09/contests-and-updates.html

Monkey was the third pair of socks I made and the fist pattern I ever used.

[Christina]

My crocheted socks that got me hooked on knitting socks instead - Trekking XXL
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h227/redheadskydiver/Picture001_00.jpg
My first knit sock - Trekking XXL
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h227/redheadskydiver/sideoffirstsockjpg.jpg
My latest socks - Socks that Rock
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h227/redheadskydiver/lovelace2.jpg

[PoMoArtisan]

Heh, does everyone start out using Mountain colors? :) And I see that the Monkey socks are the last ones you finished too! Ah well, small world... ;)

first:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10953539@N04/1447920398/

last:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10953539@N04/1405483678/

[PoMoArtisan]

Heh, does everyone start out using Mountain colors? :) And I see that the Monkey socks are the last ones you finished too! Ah well, small world... ;)

first:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10953539@N04/1447920398/

last:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10953539@N04/1405483678/

[Elinor]

I love the way first socks are almost always worsted weight and gigantic! Ahh, gauge. My firsts were worsted:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elinor_g/1262516815/

I have several most recents... I just finished the first Monkey sock of a pair, and I'm halfway through a set of two-at-once stockinette socks:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elinor_g/1414811842/ (monkey)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elinor_g/1414814482/
(stockinette)

[Janelle]

An old photo of my first socks will have to do, because sadly, they were felted in an unfortunate incident when my husband was "helping" with the laundry. They were basic worsted socks in WOTA:

http://www.janellefine.com/bioengiknitter/redorangesocks_felted.jpg

My latest socks were Roza's Socks from IK in my first ever Koigu. Here they are, lounging with me at the lab:

http://www.janellefine.com/bioengiknitter/roza_koigu_crossed.jpg

(Sorry if this shows up twice, there was a glitch when I first pressed "Post." And thanks for the contest!

[Janelle]

An old photo of my first socks will have to do, because sadly, they were felted in an unfortunate incident when my husband was "helping" with the laundry. They were basic worsted socks in WOTA:

http://www.janellefine.com/bioengiknitter/redorangesocks_felted.jpg

My latest socks were Roza's Socks from IK in my first ever Koigu. Here they are, lounging with me at the lab:

http://www.janellefine.com/bioengiknitter/roza_koigu_crossed.jpg

[Chris]

What a fun contest idea! Must take pictures...

[Sydney]

Ah, I had so much fun looking at everyone's pictures last year.

I'm glad you were able to celebrate your birthday with the Yarn Harlot. What a great present!

[margene]

My first sock is long gone...knit in 1993, I think. Not to worry...I'll pull something out of my hat;-)

[Claudia]

WHOO-HOO - the contest is up! I can't wait to see all the socks!!! You rock Baroness von Sockhausen! So, here is my input.

My very first pair were the baby booties I posted recently on my blog. My mom taught me how to knit them a looooooooong time ago. I don't remember whom I gave them to and of course I don't have a picture either. So, here is a picture of the ones I knitted recently when I wrote up the pattern:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bavgirl/1187668485/

My last finished pair are the Blue Bells Socks:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bavgirl/1394456010/

And I am currently working on a pair I am designing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bavgirl/1430670395/

Thanks for having the contest!!!

[Debi]

You've come a long way, baby! Your monkeys are gorgeous!

[mouse]

Changing it up on us, eh? I can't wait to see everyone's entries. I STILL haven't finished that blueberry waffle sock I started on the way to Maryland 2 years ago.. I really should rip that and re-knit it.

[Dee]

http://thedailystitch.blogspot.com/2007/09/twenty-three-pair-in-chair.html

Twenty-three pair in the chair! Several have been thrown away because of wear. I have no idea how many pair I've actually knit over the past 4 years.

But, here is the closest to my first, my last and all the others in between.

Can't wait to see everyone's photos. This will be fun! Thanks, Jane!