Sock It To Me! 01/05/2022

January 05, 2022

Good morning all! Some crazy weather this past couple of weeks here in the Heart of it All. Strong winds today and possible snow storms tomorrow. Personally can't wait; was never a fan in my middle years of snow and cold weather but now I look forward to it. Not sure if its an age appreciation or all the hot flashes that make it more tolerable. Christmas was odd, rained that week, which was concerning since it was rainy the Christmas of '78, the year of the blizzard. Let me add to forgive me for the grammar and all - my brain has not been very cooperative the past few days. Tomorrow is the quilt guild monthly meeting and I'm worried if I will have issues then as well....

Anyhow, yes, sock it to me! When fall comes along I start thinking about socks. Yes, not as much as the cooler weather, the colorful leaves, the spooky nights, but also about my fall wardrobe and socks. My go-to outfits in fall are tunics, paired with leggings and knee high boots. Or a cute sweater, nice jeans and ankle boots. But regardless of which, socks will help pull them together for me. Of late, its been hard to find decent socks without a huge (at least to me!) price tag along with them. Since I knit, I've been considering making my own. There are different ways to make socks which is why it has taken me all this time to start making them. There's the top down, toe up and magic loop. Which to do? DPNs (double pointed needles) or cabled needles for the magic loop. A few years ago I experimented with both for another knit project (which I failed miserably and frogged the whole thing!). The DPNs were aluminum and a bit fiddly and I struggled getting my brain around the magic loop. So, the past few months I've been studying the techniques a little more. I had purchased a set of DPNs that were plastic as I like to make hats. They're pretty much a necessity for hats. These were better since they didn't go running off the needles like the aluminum ones. But to use them for so long for socks? Hmm. Okay, so I found a basic sock pattern which I found is called a "vanilla sock pattern" - aka newb sock pattern. I started it and it was okay, but again a little fiddly. I read up more on the magic loop method. After Christmas, I went out and got a cheap set of interchangeable needles. I still have my Denise sets, but the 32" cable wore and the needles kept coming off (I need to contact them yet over it). Watched a couple of videos on it as well. I decided to try the 2 at a time magic loop method. The video advised to put the one sock on dpns while you work on the other one, but I came across an old bamboo set I had gotten on clearance some years ago. And thus started my sock journey.