Socks for mama

When I heard about this yarn producer going out of business, I decided to do my part to help out. It isn't much to buy just one skein, but I do what I can. I can only dream of being a fiber farmer, while she was able to do it for a while. Good luck to you, Shelly!

I'm going to make myself a pair of lovely toe-up socks when the yarn arrives (did I mention she's putting it in the mail the same day I placed my order?). I bought Sandstone - looks to be a sunny cheery color, which I dearly need to get me moving in the mornings.

Socks remain a mainstay in my knitting repertoire. Now that I'm taking the train to work again, I have the uninterrupted knitting time to devote to more complicated projects (meaning that this shawl is getting a revival), but socks really can't be beat for the stolen moments. I always have a sock in my purse - two rounds while my gas tank is being filled, several rounds while Husband drives to the in-laws, a couple rounds when the dishes/laundry/sweeping is done and BabySon hasn't yet woken from his nap. These stolen moments add up - since January I've been able to churn out 6 pairs of baby socks and most of one big-big-big sock for Husband (11.25 inch long feet - that's a bit of knitting). It's hot now, so he's fine with waiting a bit for the mate to materialize. Which is good, because I need to learn a new kind of cast off before it will be done.

My recent inspiration for sock knitting has come from this book: New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One . I've seen informal reviews on other blogs noting the complexity of the directions, and I'll grant it's technical. Some of the language even seems to make things more difficult than they need to be. There's also a lot of flipping back and forth through the book for different parts of the sock. But I find that the organization of the sock parts is well done enough to keep me interested and make the knitting fly along. Increase every 3 rounds, watching the sock grow along the arch, whipping out a lovely heel without picking up stitches. I'm also hooked after the success of Husband's sock. I took the required measurements, did the calculations, but while knitting the toe --> heel portion I had nothing but doubt that the calculations could be right. The neurotic little mathemetician in my brain was running in circles looking for the error. And yet by sticking to Ms. Bordhi's guidance I produced a sock that is dead on for his foot. After knitting all of these different patterns I'm feeling bored by the traditional sock pattern - what design is there in putting a stitch pattern (stolen from some stitch dictionary) onto a standard sock recipe? So although there is already too much sock yarn in my stash, one more skein is on its way.

And for the first time in a long time, over a year?, I'm going to make something for myself.