On Socks

What is it about socks that grabs so many knitters? After all, as my husband never gets tired of pointing out: "You can buy three pairs for $9.99 at Farm and Fleet." And yet, many of us would rather pay $20 or more for yarn and then devote dozens of hours to produce a single pair.

A pair of plan vanilla socks pops with KnitCircus yarn.

I know what got me started: a skein of Opal sock yarn with specks of bright colors against a background of white. It became my first pair of socks (which I think my mother still wears) or, more accurately, my first pair of fingering-weight socks. Before taking on fingering-weight and size 1 needles, I practiced by knitting a handful of pairs in worsted weight -- a method I highly recommend.

These are Keith's Hanukkah socks. He rarely wears them because they are "too pretty" to wear, he says.

Once I knit up that Opal yarn, I was never again without at least one pair of socks on the needles. I swear I could knit a pair of plain stockinette socks in my sleep. They've become my go-to project for meetings and other settings that require simple knitting.

My Winter Rose socks in Great Lakes Tweed yarn.

But my favorite pairs tend to incorporate lace, and one of the best lace socks I've knit are these orange ones, Winter Rose by Helen Stewart. This pattern is downright meditative. I know I'll knit these again.

I am quite rigid about how I knit socks, though I'd like to branch out. At this point, I only knit cuff-down and I always use a heel flap/gusset construction. And I like DPNs. This summer I really want to learn toe-up on one long circular needle.

These are my current "meetings" socks. I bought the yarn on clearance, not realizing that it would knit up so well. They are Hermoine's Everyday Socks, which is beginning to be my plain vanilla. I just love the texture of this pattern.

The only bad thing I can say about sock knitting is that it tends to lead to sock-yarn stash explosion. It's so easy to buy "just one skein." It's amazing how fast those skeins accumulate. I suspect they multiply in the dark of a Rubbermaid bin because there is no way that I bought that much sock yarn.

I have quite a few pairs in my sock drawer, and I love giving socks as gifts. But at the rate I'm knitting them, I may need to make more friends to expand my sock-giving!

Appreciations and Connections

Hello knitting/blogging friends! 

I know that I don't tell you often enough how much I value our friendships. I never liked Facebook and I have lots of worries about all the social media platforms -- but knitting blogs are nothing but joy and fellowship. Truly, hearing about your ups and downs, following your knitting and families, and having your support has added so much joy and comfort to my life.

Here is the Kindness Shawl in process. It is a KnitCircus pattern knit in KnitCircus yarn!

In that spirit, I want to share a few connections I've been thinking of lately. I love Kat's blog. She introduces me to so many patterns that I would not have found on my own. Just last week, she pointed my attention to The Cooler Side of Warm Cowl in this post. I followed the link and was struck by the fact that the designer sounded familiar.  A few clicks later, I discovered the designer owns the yarn store I visited in Montreal. These little connections make me happy!

I would never have learned about Knitvent were it not for Deb at A World of Imagination.

Andi at My Sister's Knitter directed me to Knitting Ventures, where I learned that the author Chloe Benjamin is a knitter. I had no idea! And she lives here in Madison. She is doing some kind of collaboration with Quince & Co. in conjunction with her new book, The Immortalists. If you can figure out the nature of this collaboration, let me know! 

Sometimes, though, I have mixed feelings about all the inspiration I get from you. Over at Lovely Yarn Escapes I learned about the Color Shifting Shawl, made with KnitPicks Hawthorne. Here I am, trying to knit from my stash, and then this lovely and affordable project is dangled in front of me. Will I give in???

One more stash hat almost done!

On the other hand, Karen at Pumpkin Sunrise is helping me stash bust. She introduced me to the Kindness Shawl. How did I miss this? It's designed by Madison's own Jaala Spiro at KnitCircus! As soon as I read her post, I downloaded the pattern and found some KnitCircus yarn in my stash.

Kathy at Compassionknit (don't you just love that name?) is also helping me knit down the stash. Her Project Peace Shawl is so lovely that I think I'll just have to knit one myself!

I could go on and on, so don't think I don't value you if I haven't mentioned you in this post! As a former journalist, I can't let any one post get too long. So, thanks to all of you for being there to cheer, sympathize, and share. You make my life richer.