How to measure your feet for a custom pair of socks

There is nothing like a good pair of socks in winter. The chunkier ones are perfect to wear around home or garden and the finer socks are perfect for everyday wear in your shoes.

We have lots of ready-to-purchase knitted yoga, bed socks and knee-high socks at our shop on etsy ( socksandmittens ). If you don't see your size or desired color, we will be glad to make a custom pair for you. The price on custom orders will depend on chosen type of yarn and size of the finished product. The regular order completion time is 3 to 4 days but it might take longer November through December due to the high volume of custom orders.

* If you'd like us to knit you a pair of custom size bed socks for you, we will need 3 of your measurements, the length of the foot and the circumference of the foot and ankle.

 

1. To measure the total length of your foot: place a yard stick/ tape measure on the floor. Position the back of the heel at the zero mark on the stick/tape, then measure to the longest toe.

2. For the foot measurement: step on a piece of string, wrap it around your widest foot's part and then lay it on a measuring stick to find out the circumference.

3. For the ankle measurement, wrap a string around your ankles where the joints are ( where the bone sticks out). Lay the string on a measuring stick to find out the circumference.

* If you'd like us to make you a below-the-knee socks, we will need 2 more measurements in the addition to 3 above:

 

4. Measure the distance from your ankle to your knee (above the knee cap for thigh high leg warmers, or at the narrowest point just below the knee cap for knee high)

5. Measure the circumference of your calf at it's widest point

* The custom yoga socks are standard in calf length so all we need to know is your shoe size.

 Ready to order? Let us know your numbers and we'll start working on your new socks as soon as possible.

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Miniature crochet from FancyKnittles

Can you resist cute and tiny? This post is for lovers of sweet miniatures and small dolls. I'd like to introduce FancyKnittles shop today, it is full of charming crochet dolls, animals, flowers, vegetables and holidays ornaments. All of them are made by Irina, miniature crochet dolls designer. She manages to combine the creativity and high quality in a tiny shape. Visit her shop to see for yourself!

I was curious about how this all has started for Irina, so I approached her with some questions to share with my readers.

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Irina and I live in picturesque South Wales, on the border of a small town in a valley. I love the countryside, traveling and photography and I think I'm quite a romantic person.

 

I would like to do what I love and earn some money at the same time. I was an architect when I lived in Russia and I think this profession generally helps me to see the harmony and beauty all around me. I gave up my profession when I moved to the UK. Here I started to make small crochet dolls and a lot of cute things that make dolls lives look similar to peoples lives. I've been crocheting all my life so it was quick and easy choice. Crocheting was a hobby at the beginning and step by step it transferred into business.

What is it about making small objects that intrigues you?

I don't know exactly why I love small things. Probably it's about my personality. A lot of people love small things, collect and play with dollhouses and little fairies.

How did you get started?

I've been crocheting as long as I can remember. I love small forms and enjoy making cute tiny things that mimic a real big-scale subjects. Every doll I make needs some accessories to give her charm, unique character and tell a little story about her everyday life. 

This is how I start making tiny flowers, potted plants, fruits and vegetables, tiny dolls, bears, bunnies, cats, dogs ... even umbrella and miniature Christmas trees. I love to hold them in my palms and imagine those things are real.

What are your favorite items in your shop?

I love my tiny plants and flowers but dolls will always be my favorites. Sometimes I get so busy with my orders that I don't have time to make new ones but summers are an inspirational time for me. People are busy with their daily lives, vacations and will come back soon for their Fall and Christmas shopping. So I am working on my new dolls right now and my shop's doll section comes to life again. 

 

Have you ever had a custom order that was especially meaningful for you?

I love my customers, they help me create some great things from time to time. Last Christmas my customer wanted to order a group of Angels to give them as a gift to friends and family. What a fun order! I made nine of them, they were all different with their own personalities. 

The other memorable order was four hats, one for each season, for my return customer's felted mice collection.

What are your hopes for the future of your business?

Life is always changing and you can not predict the future. I hope I will continue to create my tiny girls, boys and their fancy stuff and surprise my fans with new interesting ideas.

 Visit Fancyknittles shop on Etsy to see more of Irina's creations. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.  

Hand knits for Fall & Winter 2017 at socksandmittens

I know summer is just starting but it is always cold somewhere! Besides, it is never too early to start on Christmas shopping :)

We spend our spring working on new assortments of hand knit product for the coming Fall and Winter. There are so many pretty colors and cool yarns! I just wish we would have more time to work even harder. Hand knitting takes a long time but it's totally worth it!

Let me show you some of our new warm items for ladies for the coming season. We are working on assortment for men so more items will come!

Fingerless gloves:

 

Arm warmers:

 

Multi color cowls:

 

Socks:

 

 

See more at socksandmittens shop on Etsy!

A little red fox

A little red fox is my favorite image this December.

I've already went through Pinterest to see the beautiful fox photographs, bought a sleeping fox figurine at an antique shop, cross stitched a cute fox embroidery, and I am stamping my holiday gift tags with a little fox wearing a scarf image. Foxes are everywhere for me this Holiday season!

I mentioned this on our Etsy forum and one very talented artist sent me her fox painting to add to my collection.

What a wonderful surprise! Thank you, Elina from sublimecolors! I am framing it right now and it will be a part of our holiday decor this year.

 

Wait until you see the other images from her shop. The paintings are so beautiful and so colorful. There are stories behind each and all of them! Her images were also put on pillow cases and they are so pretty. I just love Elina's art.

The holidays are almost here and we are very busy with our custom orders this year. We are so grateful to our customers for letting us be a part of their gift giving. Please enjoy our product!   

Best wishes from socksandmittens this holiday season.

New at socksandmittens, Fall 2014

This fall we are adding some new items to our collection at socksandmittens.

 

They are shawls, bolero's and some lovely gloves in pretty colors for ladies and some lighter versions for our men's fingerless gloves in wool and acrylic blend yarn. 

 

They are mostly made as a single pair but might be available for a custom order so please ask us if you'd like a similar item in a different size or color. 

We are already getting booked with custom orders, it seems that the holiday shopping season is already on!

December

Last December was so busy that I did not get chance to post much. So I am trying to catch up.

Thank you to all our customers, we are happy to make our items for you. Please enjoy them.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holidays this year. Lots of fun, lots of love and happiness around your family and friends. And of course, great gifts!

We sure did :) One of my biggest surprises this year was a colorful tube package in our mail box. There was a label, a pine branch and the Lowes logo. Inside of the tube was a live baby blue spruce tree with a bit of damp soil to protect the roots. This was a true surprise because we don't know how we got it.

 

I checked the instructions on how to grow the Colorado blue spruce and planted it in the pot. So this little Christmas tree is happily growing now in my garden.

Lowes Home Improvement store is my favorite place to shop for home and garden and I am always pleased with a customer service there. Thank you so much, good guys from Lowes!

A gift exchange present

The mysterious package from Israel came in the mail yesterday and I could not wait to bring it home to see what's inside. My husband tried to ask if I want to open the parcel on December, 25th but it was too late. The wrapping paper was flying everywhere :)

 What was inside: 2 bars of chocolate, coffee, a cook book of Israel recipes with gorgeous photographs, little menorah figurine, a bar of soap from the Dead Sea, a picturesque New Year card from Jerusalem and absolutely fabulous set of beaded earrings and necklace in shades of blue. 

 I can not believe how well necklace and earrings suit me. The blue colors are going great with my skin tones and it looks perfect. I am going to wear them to our New Year celebration this year. 

 I chased away some sweets-loving family members before I was able to take some pictures. When my son finally got a chance to sample them he was surprised because inside one of the chocolates had crystals that popped in your mouth.   The piece of chocolate started to explode in his mouth. That was funny :) My son never had a candy like that so it was a really good surprise.

This is an absolutely gorgeous gift from Svetlana Lirigal and it is part of our annual Christmas gift exchange for the Russian Artists Team on Etsy. 

Sveta designs beaded jewelry and you can see her wonderful creations in her shop on Etsy. I am looking at my jewelry set and I am loving it. Thank you so much, Sveta, for this wonderful gift!

For the love of flip flops

One cold windy autumn day several years ago we were driving to catch a ferry to Seattle through the small cities of Puget Sound. There was a bus stop on a way and I've noticed a women all covered up in a warm coat, hat and scarves. The only thing what seemed strange to me was to see her wearing flip flops on bare feet. I thought, in this kind of weather I would go for something warmer then sandals.

But everyone has different levels of comfort. I thought about it while enjoyed our ferry ride and hot steamy coffee.

I remembered this recently and I thought what if we would try to make a socks with a split toe.

So here they are. They are thin, warm and are comfortable to wear with flip flops. We knitted them from a high quality blend of soft wool & nylon yarn.

The socks are available in 2 colors this season and also available for a custom orders. They are great as a gift or just to pamper yourself.

Please stop by our shop to see these and many other great hand knit items.

How to measure your hand for custom made gloves or mittens.

We gladly accept custom orders and make gloves according to the customer's ideas at SocksAndMittens. Each pair might be different in color, yarn, design and of course, size.

To make sure the gloves fit right, we want to get the exact measurements. We prefer to have two of them, the palm circumference (PC) and the hand length (HL).

PC - To find out your palm circumference, please measure your dominant hand (the right if you are right handed, and the left if you are left-handed) with a tape measure or a piece of string around the knuckles of your hand around the fullest part, exclude thumb.

HL - To find out the length of your hand, please measure from the tip of the middle finger to the base of the hand (bottom edge of palm). 

 

If you used a string for this lay the string on a ruler or a measuring stick to get the number.

Let us know these two numbers and we'll start working on your new gloves as soon as possible.

We are always happy to see you in our shop!
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Here is how to measure your arms for custom arm warmers

December surprises

Who does not like to get gifts! I certainly do and this December I've received several lovely surprises.

First of all, I won a giveaway, a wonderful necklace made of a recycled computer part from the ReComputing shop on Etsy. 

 

 This necklace became one of my favorites, it is light weighted, pretty and suits to many of my outfits. Thank you Natalka, for this. I received a lot of compliments on this lovely unusual jewelry!

 The second gift was a complete surprise. I received the cutest little ornament for my Christmas tree with my name stitched on. A little lavender sack was added to the package so as soon as I opened the envelope I could smell the wonderful aroma! 

 All my stress is gone with the lavender aroma! Thank you, Lana (bellecoccinelle), for this wonderful hand made gift! It is hanging on my tree right now and it is just glowing with the reflections of the Christmas lights!

  

The third gift was a part of our Christmas gifts team exchange. Love, love, love it!

 All of my favorites are gathered together: a dark chocolate, a bag of coffee, little perfumes and very attractive turquoise beaded bracelet. 

 This is a very thoughtful gift. Thank you, Lena (sfbeads), for getting all these lovely things for me. I am really enjoying the card, too - it's like a little reminder to forget all your worries. 

Thank you so much to all of my Etsy friends, I am really happy that we have met, in person or in virtual reality. Merry Christmas to all!