The tiny human socks I recently finished have gotten me in the mood for more socks. This yearning just so happens to coincide with the incredible Tour-de-Sock competition/fundraising event happening on Ravelry.
The event raises money for Doctors Without Borders, which provides medical assistance to those affected by war, malnutrition, and natural disasters all over the world. According to the website, they've raised over $4,000 for the charity to date. To register, you pay $7.50, which covers paypal fees and your donation. In return, you receive 6 sock patterns over a period of 2 months. The event runs from June 1st through July 29th. It consists of 6 "stages" of 9 days each and the idea is that you finish a pair of socks (yes, a pair) as quickly as you can within each stage and you earn points for your order of finishing.
You also join teams and your team can earn points. I'm honestly not super
clear on how the scoring works but it all boils down to "knit a bunch
of challenging socks really, really quickly and you can win cool
prizes".
Some of the prizes are incredible, top winner gets 20 skeins of sock yarn! And the sponsers are wonderful, including Miss Babs, Dragonfly Fibers, and my beloved Blue Moon Fiber Arts -- with discount codes for participants!
That's right: two-color brioche cabled socks... in a matter of days. If that doesn't make you feel like you should get off your lazy butt and knit some socks, I don't know what will! So I signed up. Hah. I do
not expect to finish a pair of socks during each stage, especially since the patterns are so complex and my concentrated knitting time is so slim. But the way I see it, I'm paying a super low price for 6 beautiful patterns and supporting a great organization in the process. And I do kind of want to challenge myself a bit to get my sock mojo back. I started a team with some lovely ladies from the Socks That Rawk! board on Ravelry. We are Team SASSY (Slow and Steady SockY's). We are not in it to win it, but it should still be great fun. You have until May 29th to register if these photos of some of the previous years' patterns have inspired you to give it a shot! What's been inspiring you lately?
Such a great idea and such a great cause. I can't do it this year, but I hope it is successful!
ReplyDeleteWow, those socks are all so gorgeous! Gives me even more motivation to knit my first pair at least!
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely knit some socks!
DeleteI MUST knit the blue ones, I love, love, love them! Good luck! I'm really excited that you'll be able to take part!
ReplyDeleteThe blue ones were supposed to be pretty challenging, I'd love to see yours!
DeleteI can't believe people have finished socks in 3 days. I'd like my fingers not to fall off of my hands.....
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to seeing the patterns as they come out though!
Same here, I'm not really in it for the competition but I like mystery patterns and random challenges...
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