Socks big enough to fit a dog?!

So awhile back I posted about how I'd recently finished and felted/washed the new pair of "patriotic colored" socks I'd knitted, and then started on yet ANOTHER pair... On this pair I wanted to try an experiment - instead of knit 2, purl 2 for the calf area ribbing, I wanted to try knit 3, purl 1. The only way I'd see the real difference between the two techniques was to try it for myself.

I also knew I wanted to try making this pair just a little bigger over all, considering how much they shrink upon washing. Sure, the blue socks fit nicely, but could we ensure they were a little bit bigger!?

Brett picked out the colors, and the sizes of the colored stripes - this pair is for him. No pressure there! I wanted these to be perfect! But let's be honest...perfection doesn't quite happen when you're knitting, oh, probably a couple thousand stitches? (I haven't counted, but if there's sixty stitches around, I'm guessing a couple thousand in a pair is a good guess)

So here they are - and they're BIG! Look, it looks like you could fit a puppy in them!


Ok, maybe that's just a matter of perspective... But they are bigger (and they haven't been washed yet - so we don't know how much we can get them to shrink). There are a couple very minor flaws in the calf of one sock, and there's a spot where some of the yarn was frayed a bit in the toe area of the other sock. Not deal breakers - and this sort of thing might just disappear once washed. We can hope.

Buuuut - one sock SOMEHOW turned out nearly an inch longer in the foot area! WHAT!? How'd that happen!? Hm.

Ok, what if Brett just leaves the longer sock in the dryer a bit longer!?!? ;-) I'll report back later!