rockin'

I have mentioned several times that I am an on-again, off-again sock knitter, and that the change of seasons brings out the urge to knit socks. Springtime has an urgency to it. Tulips and daffodils and crocuses (croci?) are pushing through the cold, still-snowy ground, eager to bloom. Storm drains are full of rushing water finally thawing from the sides of the streets. Neighbors we haven't seen for months are playing outside at the slightest hint of sunshine. I want to knit small, bright pretty things, and nothing fits the bill like a quick pair of socks.



I believe this is the fastest I've ever finished a pair of socks. It took me less than a week from start to finish. I began in the middle of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's talk at the knit-in last Saturday, and finished kitchenering the second toe sometime on Friday.

I love the symmetry of a plain sock pattern. The cuff is approximately the same length as the foot. The heel flap is exactly half the stitches of the sock circumference and contains the same number of rows as stitches.



Most of the time I enjoy a challenge, but there are times when simplicity wins out over complexity. A vanilla st st sock in variegated yarn is a good example of this. Every stitch of these socks was executed while I was doing something else - keeping an eye on the kids as they played with/fought over tinkertoys, watching the last of Monarch of the Glen after their bedtime, waiting for bread to bake, sitting in the car waiting for Daniel and Anya to wake up after an excursion to a lakeside park...that probably explains the dropped stitch right THERE in the middle of the sock. I didn't discover it until I was taking these pictures. Whoopsie! I'll just stitch it down and call it good.



Yarn: Plymouth Rockin' Socks, 60% wool, 25% bamboo, 15% nylon, 1 skein. I have discovered that I really like bamboo in sock yarn. A while ago I made a few pairs of socks for Daniel out of Trekking Pro Natur that have been worn quite a lot by him and now Anya, and they barely show any wear or pilling.
Pattern: None, though there are surely several places one can find a plain sock pattern. I cast on 60 stitches with size 1 needles and they fit perfectly.
Made for: me, I guess. I have average feet (size 7) and rather skinny ankles, so I couldn't give these to just anyone. The dropped stitch is a flaw not serious enough to fix, but serious enough I will not be gifting these.

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