Frog Legs!

One of my favorites from the mess of little poems I've created for our signature sock styles is the one written for "Frog Legs":

"Frog legs! Frog legs!
Get 'em while they're hot!
Steamed, fried, boiled, baked,
We really have a lot!
Frog legs! Frog legs!
Buy'em by the sack!
Cure cancer, regrows hair!
Proven aphrodisiac...
Frog legs! Frog legs!
Picked straight from the bog.
Hop on up, you're just in luck...
Well...
Unless you're a frog."

This was one of my first attempts to create a really complex design on a sock, which isn't anywhere as easy as it might seem.  Socks like ours are finely knit on modern machines capable of finely weaving dress socks using as many as 200 needles.  This might sound impressive, but it means we are limited to only 200 stitches across for any of our designs!  

(found this great lily-pad plate in a grandparents' china cabinet)

Sound like a lot?  If you figure that you really only see half of a sock at any one time, it means that for all but the largest scenes we are limited to only 100 stitches for an image width.  You also have to realize that any design is going to stretch when worn, distorting the image somewhat.  Sock artwork needs to take the loss of resolution and stretch into account - and creating the design means creating art in a "cross-stitch" like style - pixel by pixel.  It can be tedious!

I decided to get around the pixel limitations by integrating embroidery into the sock scenes - such as the Frog Prince at the top of this sock design.  Embroidery can be fairly intricate compared to designs knit into the sock body itself, and make for a smaller image.  If we didn't use embroidery, that Frog Prince image would likely need to be 3 or 4 times that size - and take up half the sock!  Embroidery also adds a 3-d like effect to the image, which looks quite nice.

It takes a special technique to embroider a sock - and our partner mill had the expertise that allowed us to take the typical boring embroidered logo found on many socks to a whole new level!

Our light green "Frog Legs" dress socks are light green, in a full-calf dress style and weight.  The design is subtle - your own secret weapon against routine! 

Not a fan of over-the-calf socks?  Mid-calf style "Frog Legs" socks will be hopping onto the Soxfords site this Fall!

Cheers!

-Ryan