The design for these socks came to be because my son was nervous about his first day of school. With he (and I) needing some reassurance, I decided to knit him a special pair of socks for his big day with an old-fashioned X’s and O’s colorwork pattern around the leg of the sock. The magic came when I told him that these socks had extra hugs and extra kisses for him saved up in the X’s and O’s if he needed them at school. When he was reluctant to let me leave him in his new classroom, I put a couple of extra kisses in my hand and patted them into each of his socks. Then he let me leave. Both of us only cried a little.