Saturday, April 28, 2007

A sock problem...


There is a sock monster in my house. It does not live in the dryer, as some might think. No, mine wanders the house, nose in the air, scenting the newly discarded sock. In a house with 3 children, there is a bevy of choices. Baby sock? Small, chewy, sweet bouquet. They go down in seconds. Perhaps a little more substantial? Ahhh we have a choice of wet and extra sandy from Liam, and the barely worn, under the couch for a day coming off of Brandon (he's a barefooter like his momma). These take a little more time, and require a good hiding place. It is suspected that this monster may have dared to gnaw through a technical running sock. Perhaps the smell of the great outdoors mingled with salt and sweat were just too much to bear. But I see them all in the end. Outside, on the grass, as I remove the sock monster's waste from our yard. Meet Charlie, the sock monster.

Why is this important, you might ask? I have been bitten by the sock knitting bug. Yes. Me, the ultimate barefoot mistress, is now obsessed with knitting socks. I'll just wait until your done laughing at the irony of the situation. Needless to say, my newly burgeoning love of socks has me eyeing this monster with some trepidation.

I cannot get enough of the socks. And what's worse, I'm knitting them for myself. I know, I know. You might think that someone who can barely keep a shoe on their foot for longer than an hour, and less than 30 seconds inside my house, would think of knitting for someone else. Yah. I'm thinking of it. While I knit my own socks.

The first pair I knit, I gave to mother. While I am certain that she appreciates the work that went into them, I am afraid that she will not wear them, simply because I made them. I am with the Yarn Harlot on this one though...I want you to wear them. The greatest compliment I could recieve from someone is that whatever I made for them is in complete ruin because it was used/worn so much. Then I know that I did a good job. I want my things loved. So, having noticed that after a couple of weeks my mother had not put on her new pair of socks yet (they were still on the kitchen counter where my mother put them after I gave them to her), I decided that the next pair would be for me. They were fun to knit, and when I put them on, I actually kept my shoes on the whole day, they were so silky smooth, I never wanted to take them off. Now they are hiding in my "delicate/hand wash" clothes pile, waiting for the day that I become so inspired as to clean them. This should happen soon. It's been a few weeks now. I'll post a picture of them once they are dry (and on my feet) once again.

For those who don't know, I am happily enrolled in the Pick Up Sitcks Sock Club, and recieving new sock yarn and a pattern each month. This is the coolest thing ever. It's like getting a birthday present every month! I am like a child as the end of a month approaches, and I begin to anticipate "the package." I wait, looking out the kitchen window, front door open, listening for the sound of the mail truck down the street. I can hear it coming 2 or 3 doors down now. Finally, the day arrives, the package is here! I shall knit another pair of socks! Currently on the sticks I have a sock that I am knitting using the lovely and simple sock recipe shown by the Harlot on her Knitty Gritty episode a couple of weeks back. Due to other knitting (little pocket monsters which have escaped under the bed) I have been a little behind on knitting these socks. So completely unexpected - but still joyfully recieved! - came the April yarn and pattern from Pick up Sticks! Isn't it beautiful?


Each pattern and yarn is made specially for the club. But there is a problem this time. I REALLY don't like the pattern they sent. The pattern that the yarn came with was for a toe-up anklet, which sounds like a lot of fun. It's just the funky pattern stitch over the instep that I don't like. So, after I got over myself trying to decide how to design a better sock (cough) and a quick search of the web, I settled down to these. Which do you think, One, Two, or Three? Any thoughts from the Peanut Gallery?

2 comments:

Jen in FL said...

I vote for number one! The yarn is lovely--can't wait to see the finished product. Tell your mother I said to put on her GD socks!!! --J

Anonymous said...

May I suggest another project? Perhaps something of this type?


http://tinyurl.com/27suer


*giggle*

Moo!