My First Socks: FO 3
Originally uploaded by demiurged
Here they are - my very first socks, all complete and on my feet. I’m pleased as Punch (though not quite ready to claim “That’s the way to do it!“)
The second sock is better constructed than the first but seems larger - so maybe I knit more loosely when more relaxed about a project. Or maybe I have odd-sized feet? I should check. As I plan to knit asymmetrical socks from now on, I might as well fully tailor my socks for perfect tootsie comfort.
This project has converted me totally to bamboo needles (never thought I’d say that!) and I love my set of Clovers. They improved even as I worked through this first pair and are mellowing nicely. I now have a full set of long straights courtesy of Mr L, and I think I’ll pull off the same trick with DPNs as soon as I can.
Second Sock Syndrome did not strike (as you can see) and, to be honest, I don’t expect it to. I’m a completion kind of person, although a butterfly as well. I am likely to have multiple projects, for interest, but not likely to leave a project unfinished for long. I mean… I’m not obsessive, but I do like the ends tied up.
What has surprised me most is how happy I am to be knitting again after something like 20 years off. I had completely forgotten how much I enjoy the process and the feeling of never being idle.
Worryingly, I am already at the stage where I resent time taken away from my knitting. When a walk was proposed this morning? My first thought: “Noooooo - I need to be casting on again!” Maybe knitters are like alcoholics - never cured. One whiff of the yarn and they are back where they left off… Only, this is a pastime that I genuinely cannot afford. Yes, Gill - OK - I’ll make handspun and knit that. It makes sense. I accept it. But it’s not instant gratification, is it? What alcoholic is going to wait for a drink until they’ve grown the barley and mashed it and fermented it and distilled it… 
Next up: socks again, I think - as the silk for my Clapotis hasn’t arrived yet. I’m going to try the sock “recipe” from the Yarn Harlot that I read in my new book yesterday (all finished now), but use the assymetric anatomical toe pattern - and maybe add a cable in down the sides now that I have a set of short cable needles once more. Then again, I might do an all-over rib, or possibly a seed stitch. I’ll decide when I see how the Opal wants to knit up. I’m not sure but I think the yarn is the same as the one I just did, in a different shade. It’ll be a surprise, whatever it is.
r.e.wolf | 30-Jun-07 at 2:58 pm | Permalink
Those look EXCELLENT!
I think knitting is addictive. I’ve a friend who makes sure he (yes, HE) has a project with him at all times. 5 minutes waiting for a program to load at work, an hour a breeze-shooting with friends, 30 minutes in line an the registry of motor vehicles… he’s making socks.
Wait… he’s also a British ex-pat and former radiology technician….
Me | 30-Jun-07 at 3:01 pm | Permalink
Male knitters are not at all unusual, all things considered - though I think there were more in the war years than now.
Oddly, I used to know a male radiographer (I was one myself once, you know - though not male) who knitted on night duty.
Carole | 30-Jun-07 at 7:17 pm | Permalink
Well done that woman! They look lovely. Nice and cosy too.
hooloovoo42 | 01-Jul-07 at 12:25 am | Permalink
I thought a lot of traditional Scottish knitting was originally done by men. I think that was Pa’s excuse when he taught himself to knit and made elbow patches for his pullovers.
Wonderful socks. I really ought to try sock making, although I don’t know whether I could cope with the patterned yarn like that, as the socks are not the same. I have a real thing about socks and I’m not sure if I could cope with wearing two not the same, even if they are from the same yarn!
I have no clue where all my needles are.
Me | 01-Jul-07 at 11:45 am | Permalink
I think you might be right about the Scots men knitting. There must have been a lot of down time for, say, fishermen that could be put to productive use - and knitting is not completely un-akin to net-mending
It’s annoying me no end that the socks came out *almost* paired. They just needed shifting an inch or so. I’d prefer them wildly out, to visibly almost-there! But, when you get down to it, they are going to be beneath boots and trouser leg, so who’s to know?
I know where my needles are (were) - in a huge wicker laundry basket with my ex, who made it totally impossible for me to go and collect my stash of yarns, patterns, needles, and half-done projects. I probably hate him more for this than for anything else - including the sleeping with my solicitor.
hooloovoo42 | 01-Jul-07 at 11:53 pm | Permalink
Me, I’d know! And it would bug me incessantly. It’s just one of those things, like making sure collar points match on striped or checked shirts.
Me | 02-Jul-07 at 9:46 am | Permalink
There have been many times in my life that I have been happy to know that I am a “good enough” kind of a person. This is one of them.