Last week I completed my first ever hand knitted socks. I don’t know really what I found so daunting about sock knitting for so many years. Maybe it was the tiny, tiny needles, and the super small gauge in the round? Or perhaps it was the seeming alchemy of heel turning? Although I don’t know what kept me away from socks for so long, I do know whom to thank for finally stirring me to get out my sock yarn and get to work this winter. I’m most grateful to a Library staffers’ knitting circle, which includes some knitters who make lovely socks and slippers in the most nonchalant “you can do it too” manner. There’s nothing like community when it comes to craft. My thanks also go out to Jane Brocket for her contagious love of hand knitted socks as well as her enthusiasm for small acts of creativity; her book The Gentle Art of Domesticity provided just the last bit of encouragement that I needed to get started on my socks.
Here’s a view of the cuffs. The yarn’s a superwash merino called Chugiak from Pagewood Farm (this colorway’s called Crayon). I bought it at Knitty City.
If you are interested in knitting socks, don’t delay. It’s not nearly as frightening as it might seem to knit such tiny stitches in the round, and even though the gauge is small, socks do work up pretty quickly. As a person who has spent YEARS on a sweater, I appreciate a knitting project that promises a happy ending without delay. And, they do make my feet and my heart feel awfully good; no other socks make me smile like these do.
