Halloween Themed Socks?

I’m not a themed sock person, or at least I don’t see myself that way. But I did buy the Jack and Sally colorway (inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas) for the colors. And I guess it could be either Halloween or Christmas themed.

The stripes really do look like scenes from the movie where Jack and Sally were together. I googled the movie to see some images as I wrote this and laughed to see a much googled question: “Do Jack Skellington and Sally get together?!?” I can just picture someone frantically typing this halfway through the movie.

I remember seeing The Nightmare Before Christmas in the theater and thinking it was so cool. Danny Elfman’s music was instantly recognizable. Remember Oingo Boingo?

Details on Jack and Sally #1: I used size 0 circulars and Gynx Yarns Strong Sock base in the Jack and Sally colorway for cuff down Smooth Operator socks. As a contrast color I chose Skeins in the Stacks‘ 200 Herriot, in the Peter Pan colorway. Lara of The Fawn and the Fox used a similar grellow color for contrasting heels, toes, and cuffs and I wanted to copy the look. I thought it would work perfectly with the Gynx striping, and it did. I knit longish cuffs because… that great striping.

The cuff was knit in 2 x 2 rib in the contrast color, as were the afterthought heels and toes. For the heel I used the Smooth Operator no gap heel pick up method and the no-Kitchener closure. I used the same no-Kitchener closure on the toe.

When I was finished I had so much Jack and Sally left that I knew I could do a whole other pair, with slightly shorter cuffs. This time I used leftovers from my Love Note sweater for contrasting heels and cuffs. I let the main color yarn stripe all the way dawn to the toe for these.

Details on Jack and Sally deux: I used the same Gynx Yarn and size 0s, coupled with Barker Wool‘s Fern base in the Wildwood colorway, leftover from my Lovenote. for the cuff and afterthought heels. This is an earthy, greenish brown that I adore. It was an obvious match for the colors in the striping yarn. I also followed Susan B. Anderson’s Smooth Operator for these, too.

I knit 1 x1 twisted rib for the cuff, used Susan’s no gap heel pick up method, and used the no- Kitchener closure form both heels and toes on this pair. This one has extra Fall vibes to me.

I’d like to hear what you think about limited shop updates? Do you set an alert to remember to order, or are you more casual about it? I kind of hated myself for doing it the few times I did, but that didn’t keep me from loving working with the yarn.

Have you used the Smooth Operator pattern for after thought heels yet? What types of heels do you prefer when you use contrasting yarn?

More about both pairs of Jack and Sally socks on the blog.

and on my Youtube channel: Episode 58: Socks and a Rant