2023 Geek-A-Long: Burn It Down Socks Project Sheet

Hello my glorious fiber friends! The second pattern of the 2023 GAL is officially kicking off right now with a project sheet and functional swatch to get you ready for the first sock, which releases on June 11. I’m restocking kits as fast as I can so if you haven’t been able to get one and want one, keep checking the store, I’ll add them to inventory as soon as each batch is ready to ship.

Let’s talk about our functional swatch for this pair. I didn’t feel like making a coffee cozy, so I did not make a coffee cozy. Which feels very in keeping with the spirit of the theme. Instead, I made a hex bag, and you can too! This cute little bag features my favorite complete sentence: “No.”

You can, of course, use your bag however you see fit, but I like to use mine to keep a little reminder of things that I’m not going to put up with. Write down things you want to stop doing (ex: apologizing for taking up space), or things you won’t tolerate (ex: being interrupted or mansplained to), then roll up the notes and tuck them into the bag. Hang it somewhere you’ll see it each day as a reminder that you don’t need the things in the bag. Or carry it with you as an empowerment charm. Use it the way that feels right to you.

Hey Megan-Anne. I just downloaded the project sheet and read the instructions. Isn’t the way you did the opening at the top of the bag, like, a little much? Why not just cast on in the round? –You, probably about 20 minutes from now.

Yeah, it is a little much. But then again, so am I. I did the opening of the bag that way to as an opportunity to practice the after thought heel technique we’ll use on the socks. Not everyone has made an afterthought heel and even though it’s actually pretty easy, it’s intimidating to be told to just pick out stitches in the middle of an otherwise finished sock. I had an epiphany while making this particular pair of socks. I love an afterthought heel, but I get a little stressed picking out the waste yarn and picking up live stitches. And then I realized I literally just do not have to do that. In the hex bag and in the socks, you’ll be instructed to place life lines before and after working the waste yarn sts that get removed when you work your heel. Then, when it’s time to remove the waste yarn you can just go at it with full reckless abandon because your live stitches are already on a lifeline holder. Anyhow, if you’ve never worked an afterthought heel before, here is a quick walkthrough.

Step 1: You’ll work your pattern as written until you reach the place where you would normally put your heel. When making the hex bag, that spot will be right at the center of the upper hem of the bag. Thread a length of waste yarn through a tapestry needle, and pull this through the stitches that will be the start of your heel (in this case they are the start of the body of the hex bag).

Step 2: Knit across the sts you just prepped with a life line with a second color of waste yarn.

Step 3: Slip the waste yarn stitches back to work across them again, this time with your working yarn. Use a tapestry needle to pull a piece of waste yarn through the sts you just worked across so that there is a life line in the row immediately above and below the waste yarn.

Step 4: Later, when you are ready to work the heel (or body of the bag) you will pick out the waste yarn (green in my examples) leaving the 2 life lines intact. When you pick out those stitches, you’ll be left with 2 rows of live stitches, ready to transfer from the waste yarn to your needles and you’ll work the heel in the round, treating it like it’s a toe.

About the Socks

Recommended Yarn:

1 Lattes & Llamas Burn It Down Sock Kit or a comparable sock weight yarn in three colorways.

Kit contains 50g each “Baskerville” (Color A) and “Stars Hollow” (Color B); 20g each Marigold (Color C), Hep Alien (Color D), and Garnet (Color E) on Lattes & Llamas Vacation Yarn (75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon; 463yds / 423m – 100g).

Color A: 112(125, 140, 154) yds / 102(115, 128, 140)m – 24(27, 30, 33) g

Color B: 140(150, 162, 185) yds / 128(136, 148, 170)m – 30(32, 35, 40) g

Color C: 48(52, 56, 60) yds / 43(47, 51, 55)m – 10(11, 12, 13) g

Color D: 56(60, 64, 68) yds / 51(55, 60, 64)m – 12(13, 14, 15) g

Color E: 48(52, 56, 60) yds / 43(47, 51, 55)m – 10(11, 12, 13) g

Note that yardage is estimated, includes the yardage required for knitting the swatch, and may vary depending on yarn used, gauge variations, or modifications.

When choosing your yarn, make sure Color A contrasts strongly with Color B. We recommend taking a photograph of the yarns together and then filtering it to black and white to see if they contrast strongly enough.

Needles: US 1.0 / 2.25 mm and US 2 / 2.75 mm 40” circular needles to work in Magic Loop or size needed to obtain gauge.

We prefer the Magic Loop method when knitting socks. If you are more comfortable using DPNs or two circulars, this pattern is easily converted.

Sizing: Size 1(2, 3, 4) has a 7.5 (8.5, 10, 11)” / 19 (22, 25.5, 28) cm foot circumference, unstretched.

View Burn It Down: Project Sheet by clicking the download button below. When you download the pattern from our website instead of through Ravelry here, you will NOT receive automatic updates. You will have to come here and download the next clue every time. Please download it via Ravelry if you are able, so you have immediate access to the clues as they are released and any errata that may appear.

~Megan-Anne

Burn it to the fucking ground.

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