Monday, February 01, 2016

Socks, Socks and ... Socks

I love sock knitting. I am addicted to sock knitting. I have a drawer full of socks and recently cleared space in a second drawer. That's a lot of socks but I wear them 365 days a year. Yep. Every day.


Socks amuse me. The construction is interesting and knitting them is NOT as hard as most people think. Take a class in your local yarn shop and learn. Remember, I said sock knitting is addictive. You have been warned.


Socks are fun because of the wide range of available yarn -- solids, variegated, self-striping, and fair isle. Confession -- I don't own a pair of solid colored socks. Nope. I love the designs. Their changes keep me amused while knitting.




These socks are representative of my "collection." The top three are wool/nylon blends, while the lighted colored one on the bottom is a wool/cotton/nylon blend which I consider to be a "summer/early Autumn" sock.


Socks can be knitted cuff down or toe up. I prefer cuff down using 5 double-pointed knitting needles. Find your comfort level and learn to knit socks. There is a wide variety of methods including knitting both socks at the same time to help avoid the challenge of "second sock syndrome" which means -- never knitting the second sock. I recently finished 3 pair that were started a long time ago and now I allow myself to case on a few new pair. I keep one pair in the car in case I get stuck somewhere, have one pair at work to knit during lunchtime, and one pair at home for evening and weekend knitting. I'm never without a socks -- they are a small and very portable project.


There is a huge variety of commercial sock yarns which is what I primarily use for my socks. Some of the hand-dyed yarns are gorgeous in socks -- I have a pair on the needles right now using Holiday Yarns hand-dyed fingering weight. I urge you to make sure the fingering weight is sturdy and is a blend with nylon. Socks  are on your feet so get hard use. You don't want them to wear through quickly.


I wash mine in a mesh bag in the washing machine on gentle. I hang them over the bathroom towel rack to dry. I advise never putting them into the dryer or they very possible will shrink enough to be worn by a doll.


If you want to talk sock knitting, please stop at Main Street Yarn in Rebersburg, PA. I'm there on Saturdays. I only knit cuff down on DPNs, so my assistance with other methods is limited. Here is a good link to check out for more information http://knitbettersocks.blogspot.com/p/assorted-techniques.html


Have a great week. See you next time.

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