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Big, wooly, felted socks.

Materials: 1 Fuzzy Feet pattern. Size 10.5 DPNs. 2 skeins Lamb's Pride Worsted in M124 Persian Peacock (85% wool, 15% mohair).

Time: Two days at Pete's family headquarters.

Cost: $13.

I developed an inexplicable fascination with knitting socks this winter, but before I'd even tried my hand at it. They seem fun, portable, and interesting. But I was too chicken to invest in some fancy-shmancy yarn and teeny-tiny needles without giving it a test run first. Enter the Fuzzy Feet -- basic socks, but knit on big needles with big yarn. And then thrown in the washer to shrink dramatically, rendering them even thicker and warmer and any mistakes invisible.

Knitting socks was not as much fun as I thought it would be, but that's because I was very impatient and wanted to see the end result. Happily, though, they were much easier to make than I imagined. Except for the kitchener stitch which grafts the toes together, which I messed up pretty nicely; however, it doesn't matter once they've been felted properly.

They didn't felt much at first, but that was because I forgot to add some other items to the washer to add agitation. Duh. Once dried and molded to my feet, they are wonderfully winterfied foot-warmers; although probably hazardous on hardwood floors, they're the only things which kept me warm when I was running a high fever and having chills. So that's strong praise.