Niqkita's Sock Journal

Last week was amazing indeed, we did so much in so little time.
My overly optimistic timeline was looking questionable by Tuesday, but by Wednesday it was working and we were actually finding almost everything.
By Thursday we were nearly caught up with sending orders out and there were so few mishaps that I was genuinely pleased with everyone and everything.
…and we were all tired, but happy, very VERY happy.

This is how it looked when we got here on Sunday morning, July 22…

and this is how it looks now…

Pictures do not do it justice, but I’ll get share more when we are even better set up. Right now it’s merely functional as we still have much to figure out and decide for how best to use all this new space.

This is where we will start setting up our store when we are ready…

and from outside the front doors…

We’re going to paint this big-oval-beige building green soon…
When that’s done I’ll share an update here with you, including new pictures.
(You can click on the first three images to get a better view of them)

It’s taken quite a while, but finally I have both taken photos and written a review of the Super Basics. And here it is:

When receiving the SuperBasics they soon became one of my favourites. They’re thin enough to wear during this sad excuse of a summer (it’s raining pretty much all the time), they’re mostly cotton and they’re really comfy. And str-ee-tch-y. My legs are plump, my thighs are 22″ at the widest, but that’s no problem for these. And they don’t get saggy or loose either; they’re just like the O basics, just longer. This makes them excellent socks not only for cool summer days, but for lounging around at home in; wearing just socks and a t-shirt or shirt (and underwear of course. If you like).

As you can see they reach mid-thigh on me. Before washing they were even a little longer, but then my legs are short. If you have longer but thinner legs they will probably reach your mid-thigh too, but if you’re tall and plump they will probably only be OTKS. At least after washing, I think they became 1-2″ shorter, but then I wash mine in hot water, knowing that socks may shrink, because the cotton fibre needs hot water to get throughly clean. Anyway, after washing it’s important not to tumble-drye but hang-dry them. Also stretch the socks both length-wise and at the tops and they will stay stretchy and nice for a long time.

So, why do I like them so much?
Firstly: I have a weekness for historic/vintage dress and thicker, long stockings is a part of this, a part I thought I wouldn’t have access too before I encountered SockDreams; now I can have as many as I like and in almost any colour I like :)
Secondly, they’re large enough for me, but still stay up well and lastly because they come in all these fabulous colours and cost so little.
Talk about Value for Money! I’m definitely going to get some more!

As per the notice at the tops of many of our pages:
We are moving our warehouse and headquarters this weekend and will not be sending out any orders between Friday afternoon 7/20/07 and Tuesday 7/24/07. We will resume shipping on Wednesday 7/25/07 and will be doing our best to catch up for the rest of that week. We will still be accepting orders 24 hours a day during the entire period. Thanks for your patience & understanding! See you soon!!!

We will be sending out all orders that come in by noon Friday
We hope to at least be pulling, if not packaging some orders by Tuesday afternoon
All orders will be handled in the order they come in, with priorities & expresses being given top priority. We won’t be answering the phones or emails from Saturday til at least Monday but we’ll get back to everyone as soon as we start having answers again. Life at Sock Dreams will never be the same & is going to be ever more amazing…

I love these on warm days and cool days and on weeks like this when the weather can change noticeably in less than 20 minutes they are especially nice because not only do they look ever-sO-Lovely over my knees, they are awesome slouched…
You get a totally cool casual look and feel with the greatest of ease.

and, of course, the really good news today is that the small footed are in!!!

(To the tune of “Wouldn’t it be lovely” from the musical ‘My Fair Lady’.)

All I want is a sock to wear,
Feet that fit with some room to spare.
In lengths that go up to “there”,

Ohhhh, wouldn’t it be Lovelies?

Lots of colors would be a treat,
Lots of sizes for lots of feet.
Comfy even in summer’s heat,

Ohhhh, wouldn’t it be Lovelies!

(tee hee)

That beautiful girl is Kaytee (my Nephew’s girlfriend who I’ve now adopted as my second niece). She came over to visit me the night I was doing an O Lovelies sock review and I was lucky to have her pose for me.

The O Lovelies fit her gorgeous legs perfectly and went well over her knees, the feet however on Kaytee were pretty loose (as where my pink shoes… She wears a size 7). She is also wearing one SD sock garter, the O Lovelies do seem to stay up decently… but as always, if they absolutely, positively must stay in place, best to grab a sock garter to be sure!

THE FEET!! These feet make me sooo HAPPY! I think they fit my size 11’s brilliantly! Prior to washing they seemed to have a tiny bit more room and I loved them like that too (and now, I know these aren’t supposed to shrink, but I swear they seem to now fit my feet perfectly after thier first bath).

I know that my Sock wishes in the future will be that O Lovelies will come in Lots of fun colors. But mostly right now I wish for a few more inches in length on the larger footed ones. On my larger and longer legs, these just barely make it past my knees (and that’s pulling on them). The difference in knit on the top band actually starts mid knee.

I’m touch obsessed with the texture of these. My memory of the sample sock was that they had felt more cottony. But my pretty pair of blush pink feels soft with an almost spongelike fluff. I can’t stop touching them! I think it may just be that sponge quality that allows them to breathe so well and be hot weather friendly. They are light and cool and look-wise Ideal for that school girl look. Oh and have I mentioned how perfectly sweet they look scrunched down around the ankles? Well, they’re adorable like that too!

And don’t even get me started on how pretty the textured vertical rib like pattern is… almost like a lacy crochet and soft like a baby’s blanket.

These really are Dreamy.

Raubynn has sort of been an unofficial sock girl and one of my dearest friends for at least a couple of years now. She, like so many of you, often has trouble getting socks to properly fit her above average feet & stems so a pair of the robin’s egg blue O Lovelies in the large size was a must try for her. And just like us she found the large size too large for her shoe size 10 toes, and just like us she loved them anyway. When she showed me her pictures I asked if I could share her results with all of you because her shoes are so darned pretty! We have the small size on its way to us now too…

I have to say I loved these on line from the first moment
…but then when I got them in my hands I wasn’t too sure
…and the foot was actually very large….
I just wasn’t sure…
although the look is what was in my memory from long ago
…after boiling them to shrink the feet (heehee) and actually wearing them around -
I really fell in love with them
…and they are so good with maryjanes- were not too thick at all…
loved the look and I loves the little - not too much - slouchiness of them….
very old fashioned I think….
very Brooke Shields “Pretty Baby”…

the color is so soft on these…very beautiful…and i adore the ribbing.
and both sides stayed thru all my wearing them the way i had arranged them…
one side cuffed with a bit of scrunch…the other up over my knee. A+

Ok I’m not sure why these are called Warning Nets either, But they have lots of stretch and are even long enough for me, which is a rarity for pantyhose.

The nets were kind of held in place by my shorts but they didn’t seem to be pulling downward too much. A lot of fishnet pantyhose tend to get saggy on me in seconds so these are looking much better than the usual. ;)

These are great if you want your legs to appear slimmer *they made my legs almost scary slim looking lol* and they have solid toes for toe strangulation prevention. :)

The Seamless Warning Net Pantyhose get a thumbs up from me for being awesome looking and pretty good fitting… even if they take a while to get on…lol :D

We’ve started packing up the little stuff we rarely use and plan to have everything over at the new warehouse two weeks from today. Last week I walked around taking pictures to remember this place that has served us so well these past two years…

This leads to our front entrance, set back off a busy street, behind a frame shop & hardware store. It’s usually pretty quiet and always lovely.

When you come through the front door this stairway is on the right and leads up to all the non Dream Stocking styles. Straight ahead there on the wall are our sock garters, on the landing we have the angora wrist warmers and some back stock.
(If you click on most of these images you can see a larger version)

Upstairs we have three rooms full of socks ect. in between those rooms we have our little arm warmer & glove area. Kids & baby socks live in this vicinity as well.

Room #1

everything from half socks to midcalves, plus men’s socks & toe socks.

All closets get put to good use and this one is full of EG Smith bootsocks, New Zealand Bedsocks and some anklet overstock.

Room #2

This has always been my favorite room, it has nice views out the windows
…and most of the sexiest styles, starting with the knee highs.
Then the leg warmers…

which lead around the corner to the over the knees…

and thigh highs, with all the garter belts and hosiery washing supplies in the closet…

Room #3

Tights, pantyhose and leggings live in here
…with petticoats overflowing out of the closet.

I didn’t do any pictures of the Dream Stockings area downstairs this time because it looks more or less like it always has, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, stripes, stripes, more stripes and a bunch of lovely solid socks in nearly every length possible.

And finally, this has been our main office area these past two years…

my area is in the back, the desk by the window is my original desk that used to sit in a corner of my room when I first started all this 7 years ago. Kori now sits there and does most of the invoice printing and processes all returns. The whole room is maybe two and a half times this size and sometimes as many as 8 of us are working in there, bumping into each other and sometimes chattering way too much (there is no such thing as a private discussion around here).

Sitting at the back of the room I can see nearly everything on the main floor, I’m going to miss that, but long for a little privacy & quiet for meetings and such. I’m also going to miss the homey atmosphere of this building with it’s big back yard complete with lawn and shady tree. Next month we’ll have all the space and privacy we’ll need for years to come, plus a nice little parking lot in case you drive to the little sock shop we plan to open around October.

I feel a little guilty for featuring so many non-sock styles lately when good old American made cotton socks are my true love, even on hot sweaty days. I might be tempted to skip the socks all together in this heat but they do keep my toes dryer, cleaner and more comfortable in general. I have the A Chevrons in nearly every color and often grab for them first only to find they are all in the laundry yet again.
The M Squared are another fav of mine because they are light and comfy and look just as good slouched on hot days as they do pulled up to my knees on cooler days. I was going to rave all about them on the fourth until I discovered we didn’t really have many to sell due to a wonky batch we sold off in the clearance room, we do have a fresh batch coming though so hopefully it won’t be much longer til we’re in stock.

If we seem to be a little low in stock in general it is somewhat intentional, not only is this the absolute slowest time of year for selling socks, we are getting ready to pack up and move next week. I’ll be posting about that as we start making progress and then I’m finally going to let the rest of the sock girls show off their recent photos and reviews while I busily help set up the new location!!!

Of course…
we do still have plenty of good American made cotton choices
in the Dream Stocking room
and will only stop sending socks out for maybe three days when we move
we’ll post that info on the site before those days come…

…Or, the long & short of the new lace thigh highs, restocked & reviewed.

The picture on the package is gorgeous, it shows a matching top and panty which are not included nor do we plan to get them at this time. Pity, I know, but we don’t want to get into the fit & return issues they would incur and the stockings are just so pretty we had to try them! Straight out of the package they look rather large, but that is because of the lace, it is a stretchy lace sewn into a stocking and came nearly up to the tops of my little 30 inch legs. They fit nicely and stayed up fine, they were just too long for me to wear and still be able to show off their cute ribboned tops so onto the sewing machine they went. Yes, it is a good sturdy lace, won’t snag easily…

and can certainly handle a new seam along the toes.
I think it would be best to do this on a serger, but knowing most of you don’t have one I did a simple zig zag stitch (in pink & purple) and cut off the extra length…

Much better!

When pulled up they appear to fit even in the thinner areas like above my heels, but when I loosened them you can see how there can be a little slack at the knees

Pull them up and they are all better and are sooo pretty I cannot resist them…
As for the fit at the tops, not only can you tighten that ribbon to fit the skinniest of thighs, the stretch actually fit our larger thighs, without a bulge(!!!) and we feel 23 inches around should be no problem with these.