Conquering the Socks Demon

Some are dedicated knitters of socks. They will tell you, “oh, I’m a sock knitter”.

What they ought to say is that they are SockS knitters. Because I am most definitely a sock knitter. I have knit many a sock. When it comes to sockS though, I seem not to be able to finish very often.

Second Sock Syndrome seems to be a well documented ailment among people like me. It has inspired many “solutions”, Two at a Time Cuff Down, Two at a Time Toe Up…and each time, I eagerly try. Because these new techniques are going to get rid of my Demon.

As it happens, apparently I’m not a big fan of Two at a Time. I think it’s because there the extra step of winding two balls of yarn, weighing carefully as you go to make sure you get 2 equal balls of yarn. And if there’s one thing I dislike more than knitting that second sock, it is winding yarn. (That deserves a post all on its own.)

And then, you have to knit the socks on either two circulars or magic loop. I use both methods all the time. Sleeves (I don’t like those either), mittens, tops of hats…But when it comes to socks, I can’t seem to do it.

Alright. I can do it. I just don’t like it.

You may say…”Don’t knit any socks!!” There’s a problem. My toes love hand knitted socks. To me, it’s such a huge luxury! I want a drawer full of hand knitted socks. (That’s Cookie A’s Monkey out of Wollmeise 80/20 in Clementine on my left foot, and a plain vanilla sock out of Sanguine Gryphon Eidos in Nuit on my right.) If you’ve never worn hand knitted socks, you are denying your feet a big treat.

So, I decided to face my Socks Demon head on this year. I took a full day class at Vogue Knitting Live in January with Cookie A. (She’s a great teacher, by the way.) I joined Cookie A.’s Sock Club. Because, I reasoned, if anyone can knock the Socks Demon out of me, it would be Cookie A!!!

She even had a suggestion for me. “Why don’t you knit one sock of each pattern (the Club comes with 2 patterns)? It’ll be fine if you are knitting it out of the same yarn!” (It’s a great idea, by the way, for others suffering from Socks Demon!)

Oh but I had other ambitions. My plans were big. I wanted to knit all twelve PAIRS of the socks that were coming to me in 2012.

I’m starting late (yes, I’m aware that we are almost half way done with 2012), but I’ve taken a big step. For my O.W.L. project for Harry Potter House Cup, I am knitting 3 pairs of socks. I’m on sock 1 right now, Wayward from the February shipment. I’m using Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Slytherin Jade. So far, so good. And maybe — just maybe — I can trick myself into thinking that the second sock is a different sock because the cables travel in the opposite direction!

Do you have socks on your needles right now!?

~Twisted