It has been a while since I have contributed to the Needlework Community. That doesn't mean that my needles haven't been busy. As a matter of fact, I have completed (and started) a myriad of projects since I was last here. Like many makers, I have been so busy making that I was too tired or too uninspired to write about my creations. Let's just say that since I discovered Ravelry two and a half years ago, I have completed well over 200 projects. No, I am not going to show them all to you now. That would just be crazy. But I will show you what I have completed for this year's Sock Madness. ![Leicht.jpeg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mariannewest/23wX1TdzLP3guDYn7yGFpQ2mgTh8oNSRGnKoXyhSHC5p2xzwBa8V6BXeMd5eTcvYbYTLf.jpeg) **_{Leicht Qualifier_{**

Let me tell you what Sock Madness is all about.

In the US, there is a Basketball competition every March called **March Madness**. Many people are glued to the TV during that time and talk about nothing but the competition.

17 years ago, there was a group of knitters who probably were knitting while watching TV (or not watching at all). Every one of them loved knitting socks, and they had the idea to see who among them was the fastest knitter of them all.

The idea of Sock Madness was born!

Now, in Year 17, this is how the competition works.

* It is conducted on [Ravelry](https://www.ravelry.com/).
* Membership to the Sock Madness group is required.
* A knitter must sign up for the competition during a specific sign up period - usually 2 weeks in February.
* A knitter must complete a qualifying sock during a specific 2 week period.

This year, the qualifying pattern was Leicht. You see the finished sock above on my daughter's feet.
Leicht is the German word for easy - as well as for not much weight, and the German designer had a bit of fun with us.

Because the sock was anything but easy/leicht to knit.

Her word game of course, also referres to the 17 balloons the girl is holding and being lifted by.

Did I mention that Sock Madness is an international competition with participants and designers from all over the world?
And - this is truly amazing - is it completely free to all participants?

Ravelry is a free platform, and the designers are donating the pattern they are designing exclusively for Sock Madness. Not only that, but they are also available for questions and advice during the period their pattern is knitted.

The mods are volunteering their time to facilitate all the fun. It is so awesome!

![Valbus.jpeg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mariannewest/243qDCcCbe5WRLMytHpxad3QYsMGfxJQEhERYjqv8RQBDZX4J6fA2vYLENw6cPN9rAwXV.jpeg)
**_{Valgus Round 1 Pattern_{**

Signups happen via a Google form. The mods have to sort through all of them and ensure they have all the information for each participant (Ravelry name, email, membership status).

The Qualifier pattern is emailed to all registered participants at the beginning of March.

Now the clock starts ticking.

Information about the finished sock must be submitted within two weeks. There are certain photo and submission requirements.

The mods check each pair of socks to make sure that it was knitted exactly according to the requirements (i.e.size, length of foot) and according to the pattern. If there is no mistake, the knitter made it into the competition. If there are one or more mistakes, the knitter is asked to fix them and to resubmit before the deadline.

Now, all that made it into the competition get sorted into teams. This year, we had 26 teams with almost 40 participants in each team.

![Celtic Rain.jpeg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mariannewest/23zS5EkvoX27DConLV7LGoNxj2sEGWrQ9rz2frR3izY9o5rjjm7bSQqMSvTgZLSp1ewWb.jpeg)
**_{Celtic Rain Round 2 Pattern_{**

Remember that I was going to tell you something about Leicht? The qualifying sock pattern?

Leicht - the not-so-Leicht sock to make?

Well, that pattern scared a lot of knitters off. They didn't even try. And quite a few started knitting but couldn't finish in the allotted 14 days.

The year before, we also had 26 teams (one for each letter of the Alphabet), and each team had well over 60 participants.

![little brain front.jpeg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mariannewest/23wX5YfSvcE5v7MktX8jmxcymb9hWzMDYJTNSLe4z8B21tBB4FBK5DezJ3krptEcuNsKa.jpeg)
**_{Sock of little Brain Round 3 Pattern_{**

Sock Madness has seven rounds. In each round, a number of the team get eliminated until there is only one knitter of each team competing for the big win.

Right now, round 7 is in progress with a super difficult sock pattern.

Hop on over to Ravelry and check out the discussions in the Sock Madness Group. More than one knitter has already given up.

![Squaring off.jpeg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mariannewest/EpvjQxHHhT9ZcL4yQLKg7AdB7AdWz2Nmay245T5jQpohn6gZCghAgPEGnFqKz5F6uMb.jpeg)
**_{Squaring Off Round 4 Pattern_{**

Round 4 was the last round for me. My team, Team Watermelon, is a superfast team and I had several appointments scheduled When the pattern was supposed to drop.

I didn't think I had much knitting time.

Based on that, I decided to declare that I wasn't racing anymore and to knit that pair for my husband (big feet - way more than the minimum requirement).

I took my sweet time to start.

As it turned out, all my appointments got canceled, and I could have made it to Round 5. But I am okay with taking my time.

I still received all the patterns and will get the bonus sock patterns after the competition finishes. What a gift that is!

Not only all the free patterns are awesome, but the help with new techniques and the friendships in the teams are worth so much!

I will introduce the different socks and patterns to you in more detail soon. They all are interesting (if you knit, lol) and deserve a bit more attention than I am giving them here now.

Until then, come and join [Ravelry](https://www.ravelry.com/) and check out the Madness for yourself.

**Maybe you want to join us next year.**}}}}}}}}}}