Sock Madness 2026 Round 4

 Need practice making buttonholes? How about a panel of double knitting in the round? A Door in the Sky has your answer! I’ve tucked in a snack and my team mascot, Whimsical Wilson.

SM 2026 Bonus 3

 A mash-up of knit with crochet? I made the Sabrina socks with MissA in mind.

Sock Madness 2026 bonus 2

 Think outside the box? How about Quadrilateral Thinking.

Sock Madness 2026 Round 3

 New directions in sock knitting? This sock is the first heel-out one that I’ve made! Nautical theme of waves and sailboats: Whiskey Ahoi!

SM 2026 Round 2

 Pretty Privilege is a very pretty sock pattern. I could have used just a touch more length in the foot, but intend these as a gift.

Sock Madness 2026 Qualifier

 The Qualifier round sets the tone. Are you able to knit a pair of socks within 2 weeks, then you can be a competitor and set into a team. If you can get at least one sock done in that time, then you could be a cheerleader. The cheerleader still gets every pattern, but is not as constricted by the tight rule of having to follow the pattern exactly.

This is the best. I love plaid (tartan), and this pattern delivers. I made this first pair of Newspaper Socks for my husband, and he is delighted.

Sock Madness Warm Up 2026

 Each year, Sock Madness starts with a warm up pattern. This year, the warm up is nice and straightforward. I give you: Allele

Sign Up Time!

 Can you believe it’s that time already? It’s time to sign up for Sock Madness! I was a day delayed and signed up on February 2, but that gives them time to make sure everything is functioning. And, there was a scavenger hunt sock this year! All the clues were buried in a webpage that we were to read. It has random links to each portion of the sock pattern.

Qualified for Madness

 

The sock pattern was released on Friday. I knit the whole leg and heel extension by that night, realized that I had a couple major mistakes and pulled it all out and started over. I had only a cuff when I went to bed. Saturday, I started the second cuff, then knit a pattern repeat on each sock, working in tandem to keep the tension even, and to make sure they were each worked the same amount of pattern repeats. Before midnight turned Monday to Tuesday, I had finished, weaved in ends, taken and sent in pics to the mods to qualify, and received an approval!

These sock pattern is called Hydra Scales by Clair Wyvern. I knitted the largest size, 80 stitches around for my husband. We needed a minimum of three pattern repeats on the legs, and another three from the leg extension on. Because there was a starting pattern and ending pattern not included in the repeat, that gives at least 8 helixes on the center front. I worked two extra to fit his feet. I could have stopped at the requirement or plus one and continued quicker in just the stripes, but I wanted to have the pattern go right down to the end of the stripes since it started on the cuff. I also wanted to let the toe be short to reflect the cuff. Just hints of the pastel colors throughout. 

The second sock could be knit exactly the same, or switch the colors (or to other colors), or mirrored, or even switched and mirrored! These ones are just mirrored. I do not have enough of the navy blue to use as a main color, and I wanted the colors on opposite sides on the second sock. 

I was concerned that following the pattern would result in loose socks with pointy heels. However, you can see how well they fit, and he is quite pleased with a new addition of color in his sock drawer.