Welcome back everyone!!
Todays post happened almost by accident. I yoinked a skein of our MCN Sport last week after Woolstock to cast on Stitch Mischief’s (Jade Prosser) new Simply Socks DK pattern and when I failed to correctly cast on Paige's new cardigan twice I cast the socks on instead. It was EXACTLY what I needed. No complicated pattern, no careful guage swatch, just mindless, blissful knitting. I loved it. I didn't have much knitting time during the week but on Sunday I curled into my bed, put this weeks Social Media Marketing lesson on and picked up my needles. I managed to get all the way to the toe without realising how far I'd gone. I was so excited to finish so unexpectedly I banged out the decreases and a kitchener stitch later, this weeks blog post was born.
So you guys who have been around for awhile probably heard the story of how I learned to knit by knitting socks. It is partially true and partially not true. It’s true that my first ever FO was a pair of socks but I had already learned the rudimentary knit and purl stitches on a project that was supposed to be a scarf but that never amounted to anything. This was wholly because as soon as I learned how much time it takes to knit anything, I only wanted to knit with “the good stuff”. I was lucky that at pretty much that exact same time, I had a sister in law who decided to become a hand dyer which means I've not run out of "the good stuff" since.
Anyway, my first ever Finished Object was socks and I loved it. The great thing about socks is that as soon as you're about to get bored of doing what you're doing you get to the next point in the sock and then you're doing something different. They keep you on your toes - pun intended. Now the first pair I knit I was still learning tons by the time I rolled around to the second sock but since then Second Sock Syndrome sets in a little deeper with every pair. For you guys who aren't aware of what that is, Second Sock Syndrome is the fatigue you feel when you've just finished the first sock and have to cast on the second. It's usually compounded by the desire to start something new. The problem with socks, like mittens, sleeves and anything else you have to knit in pairs, is that they give you the illusion that you've finished something when in reality you've only finished half of something. I've got a friend who swears by two at a time knitting to combat this and I can attest that it does work. I knit my Christmas mittens for my aunt last year two at a time and it definitely got the job done. Why don't I always knit two at a time? It is a bit more work and truthfully I don't mind slow knitting. Unless I'm working on a deadline, I'm pretty content to finish things whenever I get to it. Currently I've got three pairs of socks in my WIP's and while I fully intend to finish them all, I've decided to break up the pairs by (several) projects between them. Considering how fast I banged out my Simply Socks DK, I have faith that I'll manage to get through this one a little faster than the rest.
(knit in RSBSY MCN Sport in the Cabernet colourway)
Now Double Knit is a thicker yarn than Sport but Ash and I have a habit of using them pretty interchangeably. So far neither of us have run into trouble - so much so that for this sock I even went up to a size four needle and I still have a pretty sturdy fabric. My only disclaimer is that I've been gauge swatching like a maniac recently and so I know my gauge with this yarn. And truly, it's always a good idea to swatch even when using the recommended yarn. I can tell you my gauge is more frequently different from the designer than it is the same.
My other sock WIP's is the Riff Rolls from Orangeknits (AKA Mara Catherine Bryner) and also her Rose City Rollers. As you can see I love short socks. These Rose City Rollers are also called my remnant socks. They're basically socks I'm knitting from all the remnants of comfort sock that I've accumulated over time. I'm sort of using Mara's blending technique and sort of making it up as I go along. Since they're for me I'm not really concerned about them being blended perfectly... and I love that when they're finished they're going to be a completely different from each other. My dream is that I eventually have a whole drawer full of these bad boys.
As far as discomforts in life go, Second Sock Syndrome isn't all that bad. I mean it's not nearly as bad as Castonitis. That's a beast that can't be tamed. Sort of like a werewolf resisting a full moon.
Before I go I do want to tell you guys about an excellent cause that we learned about at the Almonte Fibre Festival this year. Project TEMBO is an organization that supports the education of girls and women in Northern Tanzania. Ash and I bought some awesome stuff from their booth at Almonte and we both felt especially great that all of the proceeds of their sales go straight to the charity. They're currently holding an online auction that you can check out here and Red Sock Blue Sock Yarn has donated yarn and some goodies to support this amazing cause. The Auction will be online until 6:00 pm on October 27th. At that time, the Auction will transition to the Annual TEMBO Luncheon where final bids can be placed. Anyone interested in attending this event or would like to donate, please click here for a link to their site.
Thanks for coming back and we'll see you guys in a week. Until then PEACE to you and your family and happy knitting!!