Birthday Socks

This last week was my husbands birthday. He's quite the funny man, and doesn't like a big fuss to be made about him, especially on birthdays and holidays and what not. For the last few years of knowing and loving this dear man, I have had a hard time figuring out how to actually bless him on those days,with out him worrying about how much something cost, or missing the mark with a gift. For his first father's day I wasn't working yet and couldn't figure out how to get him a gift with out him seeing the amount missing out of the account and come asking questions. I was a clever girl and asked a friend of ours to pick out a pedal board for him, and that I would pay him back later. Well, come father's day I presented him with a small gift of a new pocket knife, and then brought out the new and very expensive pedal board. He was excited about it but then asked me how I paid for it, to which I replied, "Well, we still have to pay for it, I told Chris you would write him a check tomorrow". 

You can have your chuckle about it, go on, don't worry, I know that was a pretty funny thing to try and do. Well, this year, I decided to try and actually do something special for him that was really economical ( which actually blesses him more than me spending money we don't have on a big gift like the pedal board ). The first birthday we spent together I knit him a huge and luxurious scarf, made out of a heathered mossy colored alpaca wool. He is pretty hot blooded, always complaining about being too hot, so as you can guess, he never wears it because alpaca is extremely warm! So, a scarf or cowl was out of the question. My sweet friend Elise just made her husband a pair of socks for his birthday, and they went over very well, so I figured that would be a great place to start. I knew I couldn't spend any money on the kind of yarn I wanted to make him some socks out of, so I looked through the sweaters I had collected for unraveling and settled on this really handsome and tweedy silk/ wool blend. The color is really beautiful, it has flecks of gold, which I am assuming is the silk because it has the slightest of sheen to it. I got to unraveling it, washing it and hanging it to dry while I looked for the right pattern for his socks. 

Now, let me tell you, these socks are pretty ridiculous looking when they are not being worn. They are heavily ribbed so they are really skinny and long, and look like hilarious and expensive clown shoe socks. Xaiver had a good laugh when took a tape measure to his foot and then after I finished the first one demanded he try them on for fit. Then he asked that I put it on and do a little dance, which I am ashamed to say that I did, but in my defense, putting on a funny looking sock that is way to big for your foot is pretty chuckle inducing, and even got the baby to laugh. Thankfully, the ribbing did what it was supposed to do and they stretched and fit his foot perfectly snug, the gusset was perfect and comfortable, so he said. I finished the second one and felt pretty proud of myself, and excited to present him with his first pair of hand knit socks from his wife for his birthday. He said he liked them and thanked me, but his reaction wasn't what I would have liked (any one who is a fellow knitting gift giver will relate to that statement). I felt a little sad and thought that maybe he was just humoring me for my effort.

Well, the next day I find them all stretched out and looking worn. I don't think I have ever been so happy to find his socks strewn about on the floor. He actually did like them, liked them enough to wear them to work even! That is a pretty big deal considering he works on his feet all day, lifting and roasting literally hundreds of pounds of coffee. I usually don't share too much about our marriage in this space, but I thought this was a nice and fitting story to tell you. Now I get to figure out what to use the rest of this really gorgeous yarn for, probably a pair of the same socks for my dad, and brothers for Christmas, I will probably have enough for them all which is pretty exciting.

Have any funny birthday or sock knitting stories? I'd love to hear them!

Thanks for reading, 

K