SOCKS

Round and round I go

Cuff, leg, heel flap, turn, foot toe

Knit one, and purl one.

I've been knitting a lot this winter/spring. But oddly enough not socks. I had been knitting socks, but I find that my sock drawer is full. I'll have to get rid of some of them, but after the weeks each one took, well, it's just hard to decide. So.....

I wanted a flap hat, so I bought one, and copied the pattern. Kind of. It's colorful and warm. I like the way it came out.(Picture below). But it was hard to wear with my hair clip in.

So I decided to try a cowl. Cowls are cool. Actually they are warm. But still cool.

I knit a beige one that actually fits around the neck and then can cover the shoulders. A nifty idea, but I made it too small for me. It's soft warm wool, and if washed in hot water, will become a skirt for a young girl. (picture below)( excuse the bad photo. the color is really beige. and the eyelets were on purpose. :-) )



A friend saw it and asked me to knit one for him too. Super bulky black wool, double long. Sure I said, pay for the yarn, and do some sewing for me (he's a great tailor) and we'll call it even. So I began knitting. Back and forth and back and forth and back and, well, you get the idea. I thought I was almost done, when I realized I had one more skein to knit. I began to hate the project. But I finished it and he loved it. So did his co-workers, and several showed and interest in me knitting them one. But I remembered how much I grew to hate it, and decided that for money, a whole lot of money, I would knit another. But for some reason $90 seemed too much for a cowl. Phew! Didn't have to knit that again.

But then I saw how useful the long ones are, so I embarked on knitting me one. One day, I got bored, and went on ebay, actually won an auction of beautiful Noro wool. It's not as soft as I would have thought (from reading knitting magazines raving about it), but the color is deep and jeweled. Truly beautiful. I decided to make it long so it could wrap around my neck twice, which it does. I used it as a hat and scarf that can be tucked into my coat, and it was very warm. Inside, it could just hang from my neck. It was wonderful. I mean wonderful. (picture below)

But then, I found some thicker yarn, and it was softer, so I began on another cowl. This one i turned into a moebius cowl. (putting a twist before sewing it shut). Mmmmm. Warmer, and softer. And colorful. But too warm for mild Chicago winter weather. (a contradiction, I know.) (picture below)




Now all my friends in warm states, bet you wish you had cold weather so I could knit you one too!

Then, on ebay, again, ( I really need to stay off of ebay. ), I bid and won some icelandic bulky wool. I was going to make a pair of socks for my son in law as their apartment is cold and he doesn't wear shoes in the house. It would make some nice thick warm socks to wear over regular socks for cold winter nights. The yarn came and it was every thing I had hoped for. Incredibly soft and warm. So I did the only thing I could. I bid on more yarn from the same dealer, and turned it into a cowl. (picture below)


It is incredibly warm, and soooooo soft. This is the one I'll use next winter.

(Don't worry about son in law. I ordered some more of the icelandic yarn, in red, and made his socks, and two hats. They are all sooooooo soft. Pictures below. The tasseled hat is kid sized. the other is adult. )




Anyhow, I'm back to knitting socks for me.

Funny, when I first began to knit, I swore I would never do socks. They were too hard. But my mom told me to try it, they were easy. Well, I watched knitting shows and videos, read books and articles, and took the plunge.

My first pair, well, they were my first pair.

I tried a second pair, and a third, and then something snapped in my head, and all I could knit was socks. On a set of 4 (that's right 4 needles at one time!!) double pointed needles. Mom was right. Socks are easy. Basic socks that is, and once you get to the heel, pretty much they are all the same. (The fancy patterns come in the leg of the sock.)

And now, I use socks as my small mindless project. Don't really need a pattern anymore. Just have to check the gauge, sort of, and off I go. No fancy patterns because I LOVE the self striping yarns and they make the socks so pretty.

So, after taking a break to make cowls and hats, it's back to round and round and round and round......but I love it!

PS. if you're interested in either of the hats or the beige cowl/shoulder shawl or the big bulky red/green/blue cowl, let me know. We can work something out. Gotta get rid of them so I can make more. I know, it doesn't make sense, but wool fumes do that to a knitter.