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Beyond Socks: What to Make with Just One Skein of Sock-Weight Yarn + The November Club Colorway

October 19, 2023

Good morning and happy Friday to you. This week I want to give you some ideas for what to do with a single skein of sock-weight yarn, and I’ll also show you the painting I’ll be using to inspire the November club colorway.

What to Make with that One Special Skein

We all have them in our stash–that one gorgeous skein of hand-dyed sock-weight yarn that we bought without any particular plans because it was too lovely to pass up. The obvious answer for those of you who make socks is, of course, a pair of fabulous socks. But what if you don’t want to make a(nother) pair of socks? What if you want something else that will allow you to share the beauty of your craft even more?

To answer that question, I scoured Ravelry for some great patterns to share with you. Each of the patterns below calls for a maximum of 400 yards, so almost any skein of sock-weight yarn will work. Some of these designs were created by names you are sure to know while others are by new or lesser-known designers.

You’ll find hats, cowls, scarves, shawlettes, and fingerless gloves to knit and to crochet sorted by category. In a few cases, I included photos of patterns I have knit myself.

Let’s start with hats and work our way down.

Crocheted Hat Patterns

Knit Hat Patterns

Crocheted Cowls

Knit Cowls/Ponchettes

I can show you my own photos of the last two patterns. Here is a photo of my Diamond Twist Cowl pattern:

…and here is the Cowl Neck Poncho that I made using Autumn Leaves on Squiggle Sock:

Crocheted Scarves/Shawlettes

Knit Scarves/Shawlettes

It was really hard to narrow these down. Many of the designers said that they wanted to make a scarf or small shawl that would be perfect for that one special skein.

I knit the Stormy Sky Shawl using a skein of Monet’s Cathedral on Stained Glass Sock a couple years ago. In fact, I wore it just yesterday! Here it is:

Crocheted Fingerless Mittens/Gloves

Knit Fingerless Mittens/Gloves

I hope you find the perfect pattern for YOUR one skein of wonderful sock-weight yarn. On the other hand, if one of the patterns above strikes your fancy but you need yarn to go with it, well, you know where to find it.

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November Club Colorway

This month we continue our journey through art history in the art-inspired yarn and fiber club. We have now arrived at abstract art, which really began early in the 20th century and continues to this day. I chose an interesting piece by Mondrian. It’s called Flowering Apple Tree, and he painted it in 1912. Many years ago, our family got to see an exhibit at the Kimball Museum in Fort Worth that just included Mondrian’s trees, starting when he was an expressionist painter and continuing through the most abstract of abstract art. It made it possible for me to understand abstract art a little bit better, though I confess to a strong preference for Impressionism and Renaissance art.

I chose this one for the subtle colors and for the organic nature of its abstraction if that makes any sense. Here it is:

If you would like to join my monthly yarn or art batt club in time to receive this colorway, the deadline to sign up is November 1st.

In Other News

Normally this is where I would show you all the new colorways I dyed up this week, but the fact is that I have been all in dyeing up the Advent calendars, and while I have lots of lovely yarn and art batts in the shop, I haven’t dyed anything other than Advent calendar yarn this week. I’m about 2/3rds of the way through the dyeing process. After that comes twisting all the skeins and putting each one in its little box, putting the little boxes in the big boxes, and sending them in your direction. Usually the boxing part is a family-wide effort. It’s going well, and I’m still on schedule to ship them out in early November.

I think that’s everything this week. Have a beautiful autumn week, and stay safe wherever you are in the world.