Niqkita's Sock Journal

Sometimes I want to eat dessert before dinner

(maybe I’m a freak, but sweet stuff makes me hungry for a main meal)

Sometimes I like white after labor day

(especially when it FEELS like summer well into November)

Sometimes I wear inappropriate shoes

(I once wore combat boots with a gown to a ball, yes an actual “ball”…

and even though “Muffy” stole my jacket that night, I had a blast)

Sometimes red and green are not just for the holidaze

(despite occasionally rude commentary from confused people when I wear my red/green mstripes year round. hey, remember that old Crazy Eddy commercial guy… “it’s Christmas in July”!!)

Sometimes I put on ankle length leggings or long socks even though it’s hot as an oven outside

(They are my legs and I’ll dress them as I please when I please, thank you… and hey, didn’t those old fashioned bathing beauties actually wear long wool socks or sometimes even tights with their cool bathing suits?)

Today it’s nearly 100 degrees outside and I’m sitting here in the lovely AC, wearing boxer shorts, sipping cinnamon tea, and wearing my brownie brown (that’s what I call them) Cronert Cotton Overknee socks. Am I breaking some sort of summer rule? Am I tempting the fashion police with my seasonal disregard? Who cares! I’m comfy, cozy and cool just the way I am.

The Cronert Cotton Overknee are an excellent light weight OTK in rich deep colors. In my dreams (my sock dreams that is), I have always wanted a pair of basic black OTK in a lighter thin knit, with no shine, soft flat matte or brushed texture, that of course would fit my feet and go well over my knees. I once had a pair (way back when) that was PERFECT and fit my specifications to a “T”. Then for years I could not find any.

When I first sought out our sock Goddess, this dream sock was what I was looking for. She led me to the E.G. Smith Solid Over the Knee Stockings, Though close enough to my dream to become a sock wardrobe staple for me, they still left a little to be desired in size and length. I’m happy to say that these Cronerts (though pricier than the EG Smiths) do come just a bit closer to my dream size wise, and texture wise these have a lovely almost brushed texture, but do have a little shine when pulled taught over a larger calf.

From previous experience with the Cronert spring striped anklets, I had anticipated these to be much friendlier to the larger footed. Though slightly more forgiving than the EG Smith’s, these still come out a bit snug on my toes when the heel is properly lined up (and surprisingly, the larges don’t seem to me to be significantly larger in the feet than the small, but they do seem slightly longer in length). And although they do make it over my knee, it is not by much, yet still a smidgeon more than the EG’s. If I had to choose between the two, I think I would choose the Cronerts for size and the Smiths for price. But luckily, here at SD I can have a pair (or three) of each :O)

The Cronert Cotton Overknees stay up mostly well, though they are prone to do that rolly thingy. If you have enough length you can try folding over a cuff on top as that seems to help them not roll, but if (like me) you don’t have enough over the knee length to do that, I recommend a garter to keep them perfectly where you want em.

All in all, I’d recommend these to anyone who’s listening… I’m pretty smitten with these.. and although I am truly enjoying them now in this nasty summer weather, I think I may just end up loving them even more in the cooler fall and winter weather.

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!

(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.

…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.

When the first batch of solid colored Cronert OTKs were a hit I decided to order every other color I could. It had to be a large order as they are not readily available in this country at this time of the year. It arrived from Germany last week and Simone promptly brought them over for us just as we were down to our last few black pairs
~now that’s what I call perfect timing!


There were minor glitches with the order, no ecru til next time and the light orange are only in small (I’ve seen the small stretch to fit large feet though so if you really like the shade you might want to try them anyway). I’d love to see a better range of colors; four of these are quite similar but I’m sure there will be more in the future.

from top down: Wine, Violet, Aubergine & Pink
The wine & violet were our big favorites of these, both are gorgeous. The violet is very dark, not the least bit bright, like a black plum in the heat of summer. The wine seemed extra soft to me and are my personal pick of the batch…

We’ve had a ton of positive feedback about the fit and quality of these. If you can fit them in to your budget they will be a wise investment worthy of your finest shoes…

In the picture they were the prettiest pink & appeared to stay up without the help of a garter belt. When they arrived they were a stronger shade of pink, closer to salmon than baby, baby salmon perhaps? I signed them off to Janey to shoot on one of her models and they reported back that they don’t stay up for anything & start snagging the moment you touch them. So I decided to give them a try myself…

Out of the package they didn’t have the cheap feel I expected from such easily snagged stockings. I pulled them up with ease, so far so good, but the back seam wasn’t quite straight so I eased them back down below the knees and carefully pulled them back up paying special attention to the seam alignment. Perfect, but wait, where’d that snag come from? I didn’t even feel a slight tug on my nails, and that tiny hole, that wasn’t there a minute ago. Next I noticed that the heels were on my ankles, a quick adjustment fixed that, but they really weren’t going to stay up for any amount of walking without something holding them up so I added a pair of the panty garters, minimal support with those and it was plenty, plus, they looked perfect together!

Now that I’ve got them figured out I love them! they have plenty of stretch for the longer legged among us and with minor adjusting you should be able to make the cuban foot-bed work for a women’s size 8 up to a 12 (men’s 10), give or take a bit depending on how picky you are. I highly recommend using a wash bag and some special hosiery wash plus a pair of gloves that cover your fingers to help prevent snags from cuticles and nails. Though my pair didn’t suffer any additional damage after the initial incidents.

We might just run out of these this week, but will be ordering more immediately!

I’m not a dot lover. But it can’t always be about me and what I like can it?
So when Simone showed me these

my heart thumped for those of you who do love the dots.
Much to my surprise, when they arrived I actually liked them. Now for the bad part…


When stretched beyond 16.5 inches around the dots distort noticeably revealing what appear to be holes and loose threads. This is a pretty common thing for socks with patterns (the fuzzier the yarn the less noticeable this & many other sock flaws are).
I was able to rearrange the dots by running my hands over them a bit to make them rounder, it lessened the gap between the red & black. As long as you turn these inside out and wash them gently the threads should not unravel. This is all less noticeable on the black with white dots. The top few inches do not have spots and can be left up or folded down, they’ll stay up pretty well either way. They’ll be just over the knees on longer/larger legs and nearly thigh high on shorter thinner legs. The feet, like most Cronert feet, fit great. If you’re an 8.5/9 I’d go for the smaller size; 9.5 and up go for the larger sized.
The truth is that I love these!!!

Last year we ran out of our fav pedicoats from Leg Avenue and no matter how many I ordered they never sent any. Til now, though they’ve renamed them Layered Tulle Petticoat Not only have we restocked the best selling black, they sent the pink as it originally was, a nice, pretty, light pink . The neon they had replaced it with is listed as an option so maybe we’ll get them again too. Plus, they added a pretty light blue and a true bright red which we’ve stocked as well.
I’ve been adding images for days, lots of new stuff, new colors for stuff we already had and new images for stuff we’ve had for ages. Janey has been a great help in this area since she works with a few models including some who are plus sized. Soon Liz will be contributing images for the Dream Stockings as she is taking over responsibility for the ordering and management of that section. Much as I didn’t want to give it up after Alicia left us I just don’t have enough time to give it the attention it deserves.
The stockings above are the third and newest striped nylon stocking from Foot Traffic, black & grey, it’s a warm grey though, nearly brown. They also added a pin striped version and soon we’ll be adding both in leggings!

I adore fishnets but am kinda picky about the amount of cling factor. For years I’d only purchased fishnets from dance wear manufacturers (I like the resilient materials they use and the super elasticity of them). The problem I find with some “regular” maker nets is that there just isn’t enough return stretch and there end up being spaces where the nets don’t cling (like behind the ankles and knees). I am pleased to say that the Stay up Fishnets with Woven Satin Ribbons have just enough cling to hug every curve and stay there, and yet not so much of a tight grip that your legs look like a ham when you take them off (thanks to Babylon for that comparison… it was you right?). Though I must mention that the stay up top band is quite snug (but not painful) on larger leggies, and there may be a little thigh denty thingy. They stayed up great, and only had a small amount of top roll down every once in a while.

The shiny wide satin ribbon threads through pretty circle cut outs near the top of the stocking… and the ribbons are long enough to decadently trail down your leg in a loose bow.

I love these on bare legs, and adored them with my Dark Red & Fuchsia Mstripes as well. The look that ended up being my fav was with the Mstripes and Nets sort of lazily bunched over the knee, ribbon hanging down a bit too loose and sloppy …  though really pretty in a “I’m a mess but still cute as heck” sort of way, and I just looooove things that can do that.

These lovely thigh highs with woven hearts are not only adorably cute, but make a nice contrast to a more preppy outfit, like a tartan skirt. So hearts are not only for Valentines and romance, but fit nicely for work too.
They come in both black and white and, to my great joy, in both plus and “normal” size. My legs aren’t long, but plump, so one size socks often get too short, or create a bulge in the thigh. But not with plus size.
They don’t stay up on their own, but then I think this kind of romantic, yet sexy, stockings look best with a garter belt.
The stockings are very sheer, but not particularly easily snagged. To avoid snagging from the zippers in my ankle boots I wore a pair ofFlat Knit Bell Top Anklets, a lovely thin, seamless rayon anklet that takes virtually no place in your shoes with them. These anklets are wonderful if you want to protect thin stockings in boots without adding bulk. They show a lot in this picture, but that’s because of the angle the photo is taken from. And the blue sort of matches the skirt.