The “sock situation” over here has become dire: 7 of 12 pairs my handknit socks have blown a hole right in the ball of the foot or the heel.

Darwin is very concerned about the state of my socks.

I’m down to just a handful of intact socks, which means those poor fellas will wear through all the more quickly unless I remedy the situation. I’ve got my darning egg and tapestry needle and some time dedicated for mending, but what’s more fun is dreaming up all the new socks I’ll knit for myself.

These socks have already seen some mending, but holes still developed outside of the mended area.

But wait — don’t I already have a veritable butt-ton of socks on the needles? I do. Nineteen pairs, in fact (but who’s counting). Despite that, I’ve gone through my stash and queue and linked up some patterns-I’ve-been-meaning-to-knit-for-forever with some yarns I’ve been itching to knit with and wear already. Here are my top 5 choices (I’m nothing if not ambitious).

Copyright Hunter Hammersen. Click for pattern page.

This lovely thing is Mood, one of the first socks I fell in love with in Hunter’s first big sock book: Silk Road Socks. I absolutely adore her sock designs but have somehow failed to actually finish knitting any of them to date. This one will be knit with a pretty purple skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight.

Photo copyright Alexandra Grablewski. Click for pattern page.

I’ve talked about Jared Flood’s Strago before and goshdangit it’s time I make them. Don’t they just look perfectly wintry and cozy and delightful? I really want to try this Brooklyn Tweed Shelter yarn out, too. These will be more like house/slipper socks.

Photo copyright throughtheloops. Click for pattern page.

Ampersand is a free pattern by Kirsten Kapur that I’ve had my eye on since I first started knitting socks. I have an awesome skein of STR Mediumweight in Sea Scum waiting for just this kind of pattern. In fact, this might be the first one I knit since the yarn is already wound and ready to go.

Photo copyright myyarns. Click for pattern page.

Crevasse by Angela Johnson is just lovely. I like lacy socks a lot and I love how this particular lace pattern is also reminiscent of cables or braids. I’m not sure which skein of STR LW to use for this: Melusine (a white with just pale, pale hints of blue) or Tempest (a deep, dark, moody teal).

Photo copyright Hunter Hammersen. Click for pattern page.

Finally, we have another Hunter pattern, Afshari, also from the Silk Road Socks book. I like the simplicity of this one. All the cool/fun stuff happens on the cuff while you’re still motivated to knit and the rest is just simple, smooth sailing. My hope is that this pattern would be good for my tendency to stall out mid-gusset since these would be simple enough to be great take-anywhere-socks. I’m a bit stuck on color choice for these as well: Dolphin’s Disco (variegated blues, aquas, purples, and teals) or Thraven Fledge (more subtle teal-overdyed-grey loveliness). I really want a pair of socks knit with the Thraven Fledge because it matches my wardrobe but I think the variegated Dolphin’s Disco will make the simple stockinette more fun/interesting.

I have one more skein that I’m really anxious to try but haven’t found just the right pattern for it yet:

This is BMFA BFL Fingering in the colorway SasSwatch. There’s a pretty stark contrast between the green and the aqua so I need to find a pattern that would work well with that. I’m itching to try BFL in socks because it is a longwool and should be a bit stronger than Merino wool, perhaps less future holes to mend?

What socks are on your must-knit list? Feel free to leave a link to your own Inspiration Saturday post in the comments below!