Beginning In Media Res

I’ll begin this blog in the middle of things because that is where I am. Any scintillating background I can fill in as explanations demand. Suffice it to say that I have always been fascinated by knitting, and now I knit whenever I can (M, my husband, likes to hum the Neil Young song I’ve Seen the Needle, the Damage Done as he walks by me as I knit). Last winter I learned how to knit socks. At first the engineering of the knitted sock caught my attention, but after I got a few pairs knit, I realized that hand knitted socks were superbly comfortable. Just about the time it got hot here in the Central Valley of California, I vowed to knit enough pairs of socks so that I wouldn’t have to wear store bought nylon socks ever again. My feet looked forward in anticipation. Summer 2006 would be renamed the Summer of the Socks. Knitting started out well.

These are garter rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks in Fleece Artist Merino colorway Midnight. The colorway acutally looks different now since Fleece Artist has changed spinners. It’s now darker and not so blue, but still gorgeous. My toes, which can be quite picky, really like the feel of Fleece Artist Merino.

My mother-in-law gave me this self-striping Sockotta cotton/wool/nylon blend yarn as a Christmas gift. I knit them up to prove that sock yarn is an excellent gift, and I love the colors and the cotton/wool feel of the yarn. I mostly made up the pattern, but the ribbing and toe are from Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. Both socks are done even though you can see only one here.

After this, well, the temperatures shot up over 100 for several days in a row, and I couldn’t think (at least that is my excuse). So, I made a sock with a mock cable on smaller needles than I usually use for that particular brand of yarn, and I didn’t increase the number of stitches. I have a very narrow long sock which does not deserve to have a photo of it take up space in my Flickr account. The least said the better.

But now things are again moving along swimmingly, as I put my yarn, needles and hands under the expert directions of Nancy Bush and her Rib and Cable Sock from IK (Fall 2005).

The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill supersock potluck in Brights. The yarn is actually a little warmer in color than the photo shows, what looks purple is really a dark maroon, but I like it. The sock has a star toe of three points and a Welsh heel, which I try to show here:

I like the Welsh heel, this is the second pair of socks I’ve done using it. The decreases on the bottom are comfortable and are meant to add longevity to the heel. You may be able to see the small YOs along the top side of the heel in the picture. It’s fun for me to mix up my heels and toes among the different pairs of socks I knit. I have yet to try a toe up sock. I just viewed the lovely toe-up sock knit by Cara, a champion cuff-down sock knitter, and she is not convinced by the wonders of toe-up socks, so I think I shall bide my time for awhile. Oh, and by the way, I do not intend to wear my Brights socks with the blue/turquoise/fuschia skirt you can see in the picture.

I have other projects in the works and even more planned, 2 sweaters, some lace (deep, deep breath!), and of course, more socks,but darling M says it’s time for Sunday afternoon cocktails, so those will have to wait until another day.