5-year-old designed dream socks for himself and his sister—and grandma knitted them! See the delightfully colorful result

Eija, you knitted special wool socks for your grandchildren. What’s it all about, and where did the idea come from?

My grandchildren Väinö and Pihla often come over to my place, and they’ve noticed that I have plenty of yarn and knitting needles here. My knitting has really piqued their interest, and Väinö has been asking, “Grandma, how do you know how to do that?”

A little while ago, Väinö mentioned that he was missing a pair of wool socks. Of course, I’ve made him several pairs before, but I thought, all right, then let’s make some more. I asked Väinö, “What kind should we make?” and he said, “I’ll draw it.” It’s almost become a tradition for us now, because I’ve once before knitted him socks based on his own design.

How did the drawings turn out?

Väinö eagerly started drawing, and it seemed he had a clear vision of how the socks should look. He used lots of bright colors. Once he finished, he also wanted to draw a pair for his little sister, Pihla.

We talked about what size the socks should be, so Väinö came up with the idea of measuring his and his sister’s feet with a tape measure and writing the correct measurement on his drawing.

Väinö wanted plenty of colors on his own socks. In the end, he clarified in the drawing that he needed two socks. “I tried to make them as close to his wishes as possible, but we did negotiate a bit over the patterns. Luckily, we agreed,” Eija says. Photo: Eija Särkiniemi

For Pihla’s socks, Väinö also planned bright colors. When he was drawing, Pihla was 3 years old.

What was it like to knit these socks?

It was really fun to knit socks according to a child’s wishes. I even bought yarn especially for them. I do have a lot of yarn at home, but not in the right shades. Naturally, I really wanted the kids to like them.

I couldn’t start on the socks right away because I had a sweater project on my needles. After the drawing session, when the kids visited again, Väinö wondered if his and Pihla’s socks had even made it into the queue. I reassured him that I’d be casting on very soon.

How did the finished socks go over?

Once I started knitting the children’s socks, I didn’t tell them. When they were finished, we happened to be out together, and I showed them a photo of the socks on my phone. Väinö got very excited and wanted to go straight to my place to see them. Later, Väinö mentioned that I should knit sweaters next for him and Pihla—and I guess I’ll have to make that happen too!

Here are Väinö’s very first dream socks, which he drew for his grandma Eija when he was four. Eija loves all kinds of crafts and hopes to share the joy of making with her grandchildren. “We do crafts, sculpt, and draw together, and I’ve taught them a bit of crocheting. I hope that one day I can also teach them to knit,” Eija says.