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Dear Readers,

I have a confession to make.

I don’t love knitting socks.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to you.  Unlike some of you, whose sock knitting for 2008 soared into the mid double digits, I knit a measly handful.  For me, the sock is always the afterthought project.  I’ve always got one on the needles, but sock knitting is my chore – the thing I must do if I want the wonderful reward of handknit socks (which I dearly love).

The drawbacks, for me, are several.  First, the tiny needles.  You know how I feel about that.  US2’s are OK.  US3’s are dandy, but rarely called for.  The tiny yarn doesn’t help, but not all yarns are created equal, so I guess I can do something about this.  And, I’ve mentioned that my go-to socks for wearing are those that have 2×2 ribbing down the cuff.  You know my feelings about ribbing.  BO-ring.  

I’d like to change my ambivalent mindset about socks.  There are many reasons to recommend sock knitting.  A sock is a small project.  It should go fairly quickly – IF it’s not the last thing you work on among all projects to choose from.  The results are pretty and infinitely wearable. 

Many people seem to use socks as their “mindless” projects – the thing you can take along anywhere, knit in the dark, no worries about charts.   I adopted this thinking myself, and herein lies my problem.  I’m starting to understand that I don’t really enjoy mindless knitting all that much.  It feels like a slog to me, and I’m not one who can (or even wants to)  knit and read, or knit in work situations where mindless projects are necessary.  Knitting, for me, is not just about keeping my hands busy – it’s also about mental engagement.  So the plain vanilla sock?  To me, it’s a death march.

One sock project from last year rather proves my theory - I loved knitting Saucy.   The pattern featured a fun lace and cable repeat – not difficult, but enough to make each row something new.  It didn’t hurt that the leg was knit on US3s – and that the Smooshy yarn I used is a little heavier than the usual fingering weight – but I think I would have remained involved event without those features.

So.  Now that I’ve bared my soul to you, my plan is to find sock patterns that suit my knitting needs.  No more death marches (well, at least not after the plain sock I’m working on is finished)!  I have some lovely sock yarns in the stash, and they deserve to be used!

I’m happy to accept your suggestions for fun and engaging sock patterns. 

Here’s to warming up to sock knitting in 2009.

Happy Monday, all!

Your Friend,

Knot Much of a (Sock) Knitter

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