Let's Go! On with the Toes!

Curtain Up! Light the (Ott) Lights! We've got nothing to knit but some tights (okay - socks)!
Honey every thing's coming up Toesies!

Can you tell I like Broadway musicals?  The winding is done and now it's time to explain the mystery behind "RED TOE" diaries.

Let's go.....on with the toes!
That's right folks - I decided for several reasons to make the toes on all of the socks out of RED yarn:
1. It's my favorite color.
2. Most sock yarn is designed to make a pair of socks for the average woman's foot, not a man with size XL. (Hey...I can't reveal every detail - this is a public site you know.)
3. It's my favorite color.
4. I wanted the socks to have something to tie them all together and make them a set.
5. It's my FAVORITE color!

Toe-night, Toe-night, I'll knit more toes Toe-night... 
So here is the yarn I selected - Admiral by Schoppel Wolle distributed in the US and Canada by Skacel Collection Inc.

 One thing that makes this particular yarn even more special is that Skacel had this color specially created to make Johnny's socks.  When you purchase either the sock kit or the yarn - 100% of the skacel proceeds are donated to the National Institute of Health's - The Heart Truth® program, which I think is pretty darn cool.

I want to thank one of my sponsors, the Vashon Pharmacy Yarnacy, for supplying the yarn for the toes!  Thank you Myra and gang!   If you get to Vashon Island - you will want to be sure to stop in.
The yarn selection may be small, but it is top notch!

I knit sixteen, going on seventeen, when will this project end?
I have a confession to make - I actually knit all the toes individually, and then move them on to the needle.  I know you probably consider this cheating, but I'm not really trying to set any world records.  (I did try with the Week's Worth of Socks - but that organization that does world records told me that there wasn't enough public interest to merit it as a record.)  Since I didn't know exactly how much yarn it takes to knit a toe, I didn't really want to wind off mini-balls of yarn and try to make that all work.  So..the toes were done one at a time.  If you want to know....using a size one (2.5mm) needle and working the toe by casting on 16 stitches and increasing to 72 stitches, it is possible to get 23 toes out of one ball of Admiral.

I could have knit all night, I could have knit all night, and still I'll knit some more!
Sorry, I can't help myself! 
The cast-on can be a tricky part of a toe up sock, be we must all thank the amazing Judy Becker for creating Judy's Magic Cast On. This technique is so wonderful because it just disappears and looks like regular knitting. While it's perfect for socks, there are many other ways this cast-on can be used as can be found in Judy's book: Beyond Toes: Knitting Adventures With Judy's Magic Cast-On.
I don't own the book myself (yet), but I've had a chance to look at it, and I must tell you,  it is the perfect addition to ANY knitter's library. 

How do you stop a knitter like Maria Brian?
Well I think I've rambled on enough here for now. I've got to get back to my socks! 
I hope to see some of you at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat coming up in February.
Here is what you've been waiting for - the first photo of the socks:

 Do you have a favorite song from a musical that you can apply to sock knitting?  I'd love to see your ideas in the comments below. (Can you figure out where all mine came from?)