socks

While on the road I spent a fair amount of time knitting in bed (there never seems to be a good place to sit in hotel rooms):

And I finished my socks, but I think I need to do more socks to get the grafting at the end of the toes right.  It just didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to — it has nubby bits on each side of the grafting:

I can graft quite well when the two sides can butt up against each other flat, but having to do it when the sides were laid on top if each other stymied me a bit.  I will wash them — that first wash takes our all sorts of knitting ills.

Oh well, if I were got at everything when I first tried it life would probably be less rewarding, and I would be less modest, which would most likely do me no good at all.

I would like to try it out for a month or so though.

I may have made this confession before here, as it is something I dwell on, but it still kind of astonishes me — I have never knit a pair of socks.

I have approached it, but never actually crossed that line in the yarn to knitting a pair of honest to goodness socks.  I knit a pair of slipper-socks once –Padded Footlets by Mary Snyder from Interweave Knits summer 2005 (no back issues available from Interweave) and Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave.

I gave the finished socks to my mother, so they are not available to photograph, but here is the picture from Interweave/Ravelry:

Mine are similar in colour, but I knit them using Sisu.  This is a lovely pattern, though I didn’t enjoy knitting the padded sole, I can see that it is an inherently good idea.  Sometimes when I visit my Mum lets me borrow them, and I kind of wish I had kept them.

But a real pair of socks never.

I guess I haven’t really understood the logic in knitting something that will get hidden in shoes.  I also am not in general a cold footed person.  I do however, really want to knit hosiery on my knitting machine.  That will almost be the most exciting thing ever (well, the most exciting knitting related thing), if I can ever get the thing to consistently work for me.  I like really short socks and socks at least long enough to come up to my knees — sock patterns are predominantly designed to come to mid calf.  This of course is a stupid observation because I design knitting patterns and could make whatever socks I want, whatever length I want, but I always come back to sweaters.

There are other things I have never knit — shrugs, blankets, pants, skirts, bags, pillows.  I guess I just like knitting sweaters and gloves.

These however:

Would really be worth cracking out the needles for.  They are by Mari Muinonen and published in the current issue of Vogue Knitting (spring/summer 2009), Ravelry link here.  I think I would make them a little longer and substitute a lace wieght yarn in a dark colour, like this.

A parting picture to muse on: