Trade socks

Trade goods are items specifically made to be used for trade (barter) rather than by the manufacturer or to be sold for money. And here are my first trade goods…

Trade socks... all packed and ready to go, along which a little sunny card

Trade socks… all packed and ready to go, along with a little sunny card

In exchange for these socks, I have (already) received a large box of felting wool, from which I plan to make a big colourful bag. And when I say colourful, it really will be if I use all of the shades:

All this for a pair of socks!

All this for a pair of socks… mind you, they do take  about 20 hours to knit!

I envisage it having a shoulder strap (perhaps made from an old leather belt) and being big enough to hold an A4 folder. I also intend that it has a flap to keep the rain out. I’m going to have to start off working round a really big resist (the plastic insert that allows you to create a three-dimensional object without the need for seams) to get a big enough bag. This will be the largest felting project I have ever undertaken, but it should be really fun. Now, I just need to find the time to do it!

Will knit for wool

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about wanting to do more bartering, so I was delighted the other day to receive a message from a friend who is about to move house and is sorting out ‘stuff‘. He wanted to know if I would be interested in an exchange… he’d got some merino wool tops suitable for felting, did I want them and what would I offer in exchange? After a bit of discussion, we settled on a pair of hand-knitted socks. I sent him a photograph of my stash of sock wool:

My current sock yarn stash

My current sock yarn stash (smaller than it used to be!)

and he selected the colours he liked.

I still haven’t received his foot measurements yet, but that’s not a problem for the time being… I can do as far as just beyond the heel for both feet before I need to know. So at present on my needles are Eddie’s socks… I hope he likes them:

Work in progress on Eddie's sock (displayed with my happy snail yarn bowl)

Work in progress on Eddie’s sock (displayed with my happy snail yarn bowl)

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