So I searched Etsy figuring it would by my best chance for find such specific yarn. No luck. I tried the alchemy feature but found out it had just been shut down the day before. Desperate, I posted on the Etsy Ravelry group asking for suggestion on what to do. Several people gave me great ideas and then one indie dyer spoke up and said she'd do it for me. I checked out Jill's shop and loved everything I saw. We messaged back and forth with the details and I placed my order.
When the yarn arrived I made sure that Will was there when I opened the box. It was more than perfect. He was so happy that I had found him the exact yarn that he asked for. In fact, he now wanted socks, a hat and a scarf all out of that yarn (thankfully I ordered 2 hanks just in case). Next up was finding the right pattern.
My go-to pattern for men's socks is Anne Hanson's Gridiron. It's super simple, manly with enough detail not to get boring and it fits very well. The problem is that my son is almost 5 and I wasn't sure if it would fit him. I posted to Anne's fan group on Ravelry asking the question and very quickly was given several patterns to choose from that would size down to fit Will's feet. Anne even confirmed that she loves to use Gridiron to knit socks for her own nephews that are close in age to Will. She included a helpful explanation on how she sizes her sock patterns so I can feel confident that I'm knitting the right size the first time.
It didn't take me long to knit the first sock and when he came home from school I asked him to try it on. The sock wasn't even all the way on his foot, his eyes lit right up and he said "Oh this feels really nice!". Once it was on we did a modeling session. This is how he wanted me to take the picture:
This is me trying to get him to hold his foot still:
This is him pointing to the coolest socks ever:
This is one happy boy who is ever so patiently waiting for his second sock:
