The Crisis of a Sock

Look at me, a small pleasant ball of wool and nylon. A perfect blend for making into a pair of socks. The wool is soft, but not so soft to develop holes when you finally complete the socks, that is if you ever get around to making them. I have been sitting here in this same cotton bag for weeks now. Untouched. Unloved.

What could it be to make me so unappealing to you? After all, I am in simple colors of brick red, forest green, and a white that isn't too blinding but not dark enough to be called cream. My colors harmonize with each other and each section is big enough to give you even stripes. I won't pool or flash around in unexpected ways like those variegated skeins you have laughing at me in the closet. I see you open them and fondle them before guiltily glancing back at me and putting them back.

Am I not good enough? I admit that I am particular about what size needle you knit with me, but I settle down nicely. Is is the patterns? I see the type of new patterns you are looking at. Those knit flat with multiple colors and then joined in the round for the foot. Fancy patterns with mock cables on the legs and flowers on the instep. Argyle with different colors that might match or might be horrible with each other. You don't think I've heard rumors from all of the single balls of solids, but they were whispered to me when you were finishing up my brothers and sisters of the same colors.

You started me last weekend when you were visiting and it felt so wonderful. We were doing so well together. You just know how I love 2x2 ribbing in my colors. But then, you just stopped. Abandoned me for a flashy phone game with fighters and flashing colors. Is that really it? Am I just too simple? Or is it something else? Something that you aren't telling me?

I just wish you would pick me back up again and hold me in your hands. Wrap me around your needles so that I can grow into something beautiful even if it is plainly simple. Let me feel the sunshine as you sneak in a row sitting in your car before work. Let me hear the laughter of your time together with your beloved that you are making me for. Let me comfort you as you sit in bed knowing that if you just read a chapter of a book then you will be up all night. And then, just maybe, you will let me grow and through me, you will be loved too.

-Meg Wesley's Sock

Christmas Present Aftermath

 

Last year I decided to knit my family socks for Christmas instead of buying them anything that they can just pick up for themselves at the store. I figured that it would be better to give something handmade last year and my family adores hand knit socks. My goal was to knit five different pairs of socks in the same yarn with different patterns. That way, they would match and be Christmas themed but not be exactly the same so everybody would be able to tell their socks apart without having to guess which pair belonged to which person.

I managed to get three of those pairs done in time and they were well received and well loved. They were all knit with KnitPicks Felici in Jingle. Dad's socks are made with the Jaywalker pattern on the top of the leg, my brother's socks were made with the Circle Socks pattern, and my mom's socks were made with the Yarn Over Cable pattern. I don't know why I waited so long to try making these patterns. They have been in my want to make list for ages and they were all really easy to do.

All I have to do is to knit the socks for my fiance and my socks, then I will be done with my Christmas knitting. Those socks will be very pleasant knitting, so I am looking forward to them. Especially my fiance's socks since he has big feet. If I decide to knit for Christmas again this year, I am going to have to make a list and start in July so I can keep myself on track and finish everything before December. Or at least before Christmas Eve.

-MegWesley

New Year, New Screw Ups

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something." - Neil Gaiman

For the past few years, I have made a series of knitting resolutions. Some years they were big and grand like knitting a certain type of sock each month to learn new techniques. Some years they were simple like to start and finish only three things in a year. And one year I had a large list of things that ranged from knitting a sweater to learning how to spin and sew. The only thing that these lists had in common is that I wanted to challenge myself to learn new things. Yes, most of the time I failed to do even a small amount on these lists, but that really isn't the point and I think that people lose track of that. After all, for most people a new year feels like a brand new start. So, instead of making a list of resolutions this year, I am going to make a list of mistakes that I think I will do.

New Year's Mistake Goals

1. Try to cast on for a pair of socks only to come out with the wrong number three times in a row.
2. Miscalculate the amount of yarn that I will need for a sweater and run out 3/4ths of the way done.
3. Screw up on counting short-row turns while trying to do them as shadow wraps.
4. Spill the box of leftover sock yarns while organizing the knitting cabinet.
5. Spend a half hour untangling a skein of fingering weight yarn.

Instead of worrying about how you want to improve yourself, I challenge you to guess how many and what type of mistakes that you will make in the following year.

Happy New Year!

-MegWesley