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Review: Sockupied Fall 2014 Issue

It's been a while since I've checked out out an issue of Sockupied, but when I was offered a free download for my review, I couldn't say no! This latest issue is a user-friendly, interactive app which is available for both Mac and PC. I really liked the overall presentation; the images of the socks and products were well-done, while the graphics interface was eye-catching and engaging.

The layout is such that you can click (or tap) various areas on the page to bring up more content which are generally well-marked with graphic elements such as asterisks or arrows.
True North DK Socks by Lucy Neatby
Navigating through each section was fairly intuitive for the most part (although sometimes I would totally miss something which probably is quite obvious to tablet users, which this format seemed geared towards).

After so many years of knitting (and designing) socks, I have countless books and patterns in my library, and I find it hard to get excited about most "new" sock designs I come across. While I'm not sure that I'll be casting on any of the designs from this issue any time soon, I can definitely see adding some of these to my queue for knitting in the not-so-near future. All six sock designs are well-presented within the issue; it seems that there was great care in selecting each one to cater to a variety of sock-knitting preferences. There was a nice range of basic socks (Enduring Sock, Lida Rose), intermediate (Daisy Field Socks, Time Traveler Socks, Thyme Marches On), and the show-stopping technique-based True North DK colorwork socks by Lucy Neatby.
Lida Rose by Anne Podlesak
The patterns are included within the interactive application, plus there are also links to download individual PDFs.

After so many years of knitting under my belt, I am always pleased when I can learn something new which helps me hone my craft, and I definitely picked up some useful tidbits to sharpen my sock-knitting skills in this issue. I found many handy tips in Kate Atherley's Knit Durable Socks article, and the product spotlights on wool washes and breed-specific sock yarns were eye-catching and interesting. Jennifer Crowley Raymond's short article about vintage knitting patterns contained a list of extremely useful resources, for those of you who are vintage pattern enthusiasts.
Daisy Field Socks by Maria Leigh
The Fall 2014 issue of Sockupied is well worth the purchase price of $7.99; for just a few dollars more than the average cost of a single pattern, you get six great designs and access to articles, tutorials and resources to help you level up your sock knitting for fall.

I'm excited to see what future issues of Sockupied will look like under the editorial leadership of Amy Palmer!

You may like to know: I was provided with a free issue of Sockupied in exchange for this review. 

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