Projects of 2020: Jon Edition
The final post in my Projects of 2020 series is 4 garments I made for Jon, two sweatshirts and two pairs of socks. Let’s start with the sweatshirts!
A few years ago when Jon and I were in LA he saw a sweatshirt in a shop that he loved, and for some reason instead of buying it we decided that I’d make him one. So we stopped in at The Fabric Store when they still had an LA store and grabbed some fabric and when we got home (after a month or two because you all know how it is) I drafted up a pattern for the sweatshirt. After a fitting or two it was good to go and I sewed it up for him.
For Christmas 2019 Jon decided he wanted a few more sweatshirts and coincidentally at the same time I received an email newsletter from Stonemountain that had great colors of sweatshirting with matching ribbing. Perfect! So I grabbed two colors and got one done in time for Christmas. The second sweatshirt I finished up in January and that was that! Two new sweatshirts.
Now onto the socks. For years I’ve been telling Jon, if you ever want a pair of socks let me know, and he’s always said no. But for some reason this year he decided he wanted a pair of thick wooly socks for his birthday. He decided this pretty close to his birthday so the key word in his request for me was thick – I chose Navia Sock because it’s a light worsted weight 100% wool that can be washed on cold in the washing machine, yet isn’t superwash so it retains the rustic feel I wanted. I knit the socks down a few needle sizes, the gauge lists US7 needles, but I used US4. The reasoning for that is you get a nice thick sock that stands up better to wear.
Well those went pretty quickly. I had a hard time finding a pattern that would work for that yarn at that gauge, so I didn’t use a pattern. Instead I just cast on the number of stitches required to fit his ankle & foot and went to town and they turned out perfectly! I’ve since knit him another pair and I’m sure there will be more in the future.
I know some people really dislike sewing and knitting for others, but I find it feels really great to be able to provide a loved one with a handmade garment to keep them warm or comfortable. Do I want to do alterations and hems? Absolutely not! But I’m more than happy to knit multiple pairs of socks on US 0 needles for my mom. Go figure!