Wrap Up for the Spooky SockAThon!

Every year I feel like the month of October FLIES by!!!! It’s probably my favorite month of the year and yet I always feel a little disappointed at the end of it because, try as I might, I’m never able to do all the spooky, witchy, autumnal, wonderful things I’d like to. Maybe next year I just need to embrace a slower pace and acknowledge that 31 days really isn’t enough time to do all things, but it is enough time to savor and really find joy in SOME of the things ;) Likewise with this year’s Spooky Sock A Thon, I had set some pretty lofty and incredible goals for myself that I wasn’t quiiiiiite able to execute. LOL. BUT, I did create some space and find grace for myself and I made a pretty sweet ass pair of socks :) :)

My Hocus Pocus Socks for the Spooky SockAThon

If you missed it, the Spooky SockAThon was a month long makealong that I hosted on IG during the month of October. Makers cast on one (or more) pairs of knit or crochet socks starting on October 1st and attempted to complete them by October 31st. Spooky and autumnal socks were encouraged, but not required. I was SO incredibly happy to see how many knitters and crocheters joined me in making socks and it was even more awesome to see how many makers used the SockAThon to cast on their first pair of handmade socks! That alone made this entire makealong worth it :) :) For myself, I had (hilariously) planned on making 3 pairs of socks. 2 knit and 1 crochet. HOWEVER, as it is wont to do, life happened and with travel back home and then catching our nephew’s illness followed by a severe panic attack and ensuing mental health issues, I wasn’t able to commit as much time as I wanted to my sock making. I wasn’t able to even begin the crochet socks or the second pair of knit socks, but I did finish one incredible pair of thigh highs (which could be argued count as 1+ pairs of socks, LOL).

The three pairs of socks I’d planned to make for the Spooky SockAThon: The MissDirection Socks by Clarisabeth Lopez Rodriguez of Crochet Cakes, The Hocus Pocus Socks by The Noble Thread, and the Stevie’s Dream Socks by Wendy Staples of Very Warm Stripes.

The socks I made for the Spooky SockAThon were the Hocus Pocus Socks by the Noble Thread. I’ve had this pattern in my queue for years and couldn’t think of a better time to make myself some witchy thigh highs. I’ve only ever made 2 other complete pairs of socks plus 1 sock I did in testing, so I still consider myself a sock newbie. The Hocus Pocus Socks are toe up and after reading through the pattern, I felt they would be very beginner friendly. The pattern IS recipe style so you have to do your own math to get stitch counts for different sections of the sock, but the pattern has formulas for you to use and is pretty clear and understandable. I also really appreciated the suggested tutorials which are linked in the pattern.

First I’ll give some notes on my socks and then I’ll give a general review of the pattern and what I would do differently next time.

My Hocus Pocus Socks Notes and Review:

Yarn: The yarn I used was purchased from Espace Tricot from my trip to Montreal back in August. The owner helped me pick out my yarn and it was PERFECT!!! I used Bon Tricot Happy 4 ply in colors lichen and pink garnet, SBY Fibre Mercantile’s Deconstructed Fade Sock in colorway Olive & Me, and an unknown partial skein from my stash (could not find the label anywhere and I literally have ZERO clue who it might be from). For the pattern, you hold 2 strands of fingering weight together at all times to create DK weight stockings. You’ll keep holding one of the colors for at least 2 color changes each time to create the gradual melding/fade of the colors. I LOVED how these yarns worked up together and they are cozy, soft, and super comfortable.

Yardage: I’m a relatively tall gal at 5’10” and I made my socks reach mid thigh. The socks themselves are 34” long from ribbing to toes. I used a total of 73 grams of the Bon Tricot Lichen, 84 grams of the Bon Tricot pink garnet, 87 grams of the SBY yarn, and 82 grams of the mystery yarn for a total of 326 grams of yarn.

Gauge: My gauge was 23 st x 31 rows in stockinette in the round for 4”. The pattern gauge was 24 sts x 32 rows.

I followed the pattern instructions for the Turkish cast on method, but instead of starting with 16 stitches, I began with 24 sts. I have relatively big and wide feet (size 9) and I hate having things too tight around my toes. I really, really enjoyed doing the Turkish cast on method though and the tutorial by Andrea Mowry was SO clear and helpful, especially as I continued to do magic loop throughout the entire sock (the pattern does suggest where to switch to 9” circulars should you prefer that). I plan to use this cast on anytime I do toe up socks :)

I stopped my toe increases per the pattern’s formula suggestion for my feet at 56 stitches, buuuuuut, I decided not to do the Afterthought heel as is written for the pattern. I had some maker friends tell me that if you have high arches (I do!) that the afterthought heel can fit awkwardly and it’s really hard to try on the sock as you go. So, on the suggestion of my sock guru bestie Abbi of Goliath Frog Crafts, I did a German short row heel. I am SO SO glad I did! The heel fits great and it was so simple to do! Watching the heel take shape was honestly magical and makes me more and more believe that knitting and crochet is a form of witchcraft :) :) Additionally with the short row heel, you don’t need to create a gusset so there’s no increasing/decreasing of your stitch count. It keeps the heel nice and snug to your foot :) If you’d like to try out the heel next time you do toe up socks, check out Abbi’s tutorials on IG LIVE. She shows you how to start the toe up socks in the first video, then video 2 is the short row heel, and in the 3rd video she shows you 2 different stretchy bind offs for your cuffs.

Once I had joined in the round after the heel, I worked in pattern until I reached 6” from the small gap that formed from creating my heel to keep the sock snug. Then, per the pattern, I began to increase on the back of my sock. Now here is where I really went off pattern. According to the pattern, I was meant to increase at this point until I reached the suggested thigh stitch count of 120 stitches. When I hit 78 stitches mid calf, I decided to stop my increases because the socks already felt… “not tight” and I didn’t want the socks to bag around my knee. THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT CHOICE!!! In fact, I wish I’d stopped at 68 or 70 stitches because I could have done with a slightly more snug fit around my calf and knee. Once I reached just past my knee, I decided to start increasing my sock for my thighs. Now, I’ve got some lovely thick thighs so I just kept trying on the socks to determine how many more increases I’d need. At first, I thought I really would be increasing all the way up to 120 sts, but when I hit 92 sts, I knew I wouldn’t be anywhere close to 120 as the socks would be entirely too large. I’m still not sure if the formula was off or if I just wanted less ease than the pattern suggested, but 120 was waaaaay too many stitches. I stopped at 92 sts and continued at that stitch count until I liked the length of the socks and then did the ribbing according to pattern.

There is a tutorial for both Jenny’s Super Stretchy Bind Off and Adding Elastic which are really helpful! Even though I know how to do both, I did check out the tutorials and finished off my socks accordingly.

The progress of my Hocus Pocus Socks!

So they’re perfect right? WELLLLLLLL not exactly. LOL.

First off, I was in a TIME CRUNCH to finish these socks within the SockAThon deadline. Due to all the life shenanigans, I didn’t finish my second sock until 5:30 pm on October 31st. The SockAThon ended October 31st. Trick Or Treaters were arriving at 6:30 and I had planned to wear my socks as part of my Witchy costume.

When I tried the socks on after adding the elastic to them (I saved that for last), I was pretty disappointed. As soon as I walked/moved, the socks started to slide down. The elastic did keep them above my knee, but it was all bunched up and not the look I wanted for my costume. Additionally, as these were my first pair of DK socks, I wasn’t prepared for how bulky and slipper-esque they would be. I couldn’t get the socks inside the booties I had planned to wear and I was left without a shoe option. I did try adding garters to the socks and they stayed up brilliantly but the shoe issue remained. So, I took a deep breath and decided to pivot and not wear the socks for my costume. A bit of a disappointment, but I still think the socks are pretty awesome as lounge wear socks. In fact, I wore them all day on November 1st and felt super cozy and sexy :) :) My husband agreed ;)

What would I do differently next time? I think I might start my calf increases even higher up my leg and stop at significantly less stitches to give myself more negative ease. I might even do decreases around the knee to ensure there’s no bagging/sagging and then again, do far less increases for the thigh to create a snugger fitting stocking. I think these changes would create stockings that I’d actually be able to wear out without garters or risk them falling down. I’ve already had a few people ask if I plan to frog these back a bit to create a snugger sock and that’s gonna be a hell no from me. I still find the socks comfy and I’m really pleased with them and I’m ready to move on to other projects. If I ever decide I want another pair (I totally might! I think a sexy black pair would be rad for my wardrobe), I now know what to do differently.

All in all, the Spooky Sock A Thon was a pretty awesome time and I love the socks I made, even if not everything went according to plan. I absolutely plan on hosting it (or another spooky MAL) next year and I hope you’ll join me!!!! If you’re looking for some sock inspo now, let me leave you with a few FO pics from IG of makers who completed their Spooky SockAThon socks!