Socks!

Well.  Who would have thought it?  I, who thought I was such a rubbish knitter, preferring to stay in my comfort zone of dressmaking and crochet, have knitted a pair of socks!  I am so delighted with them!  

It all started at Cooper's Creative on a Tuesday afternoon.  I had admired the other ladies who knitted socks, but dismissed the idea for myself, as I am really not a knitter.  On this particular Tuesday afternoon, POH had come with me for lunch, and was going for a look around the shops whilst I stayed at the café to crochet and chat.  Lucy, from Attic24, was knitting a pair of socks and POH was intrigued. I insisted I could never do this, but Lucy was adamant that if I followed Christine's Winwick Mum's Sockalong pattern I really could!  So, before we headed home that day, we called into Purl and Jane and POH selected some West Yorkshire Spinners sock yarn, and Jane knew just the needles I needed to buy, and off we went!

I started quickly, and things were going well...

(I love my iPad row counter!)

As the sock grew longer, and I reached the heel, I realised I must have made an error in my calculations, as the sock was HUGE!   I sought some advice from Lucy, Christine and Jane, and pulled the whole sock back.  I strangely wasn't at all downhearted as I felt I had already learnt so much.

Knitting it a second time was certainly easier and it came together quite quickly, despite having a break when I was feeling poorly.  

I was fortunate enough to see Christine at Cooper's whilst I was knitting it and she gave me some excellent pointers on bits I felt weren't as neat.  

The second sock then flew off the needles and I made it in five days flat!  All it needed then was for POH to try them on...  Ta Daa!!

The photo was taken at night, by table lamp, so the colours aren't as good as they are in real life.  POH loves them!  He suffers with cold feet and he says these are the warmest socks ever.  To say I am very pleased is understatement of the week!

DD, home at the time, had sock envy, and asked me if I could knit her a pair!  Of course I said yes, and the wool this time is from Regia.  This colourway is apparently called 'Ocean'.  

It is knitting up beautifully, and is firm and smooth to work with.

I can't believe how much fun knitting socks is!  It is rhythmic, with each separate part having its own separate rhythm.  I found turning the heel not nearly as daunting as I thought it would be, thanks to Christine's fabulous step by step tutorials.  Likewise the heel flap.  

The bit I struggled with the most was the Kitchener Stitch for the toes.  I don't think I will ever be able to do this without following Christine's instructions for each step!  

I think I am a little bit addicted to sock knitting, and I cannot believe the amount of beautiful sock yarns available! I was back at Purl and Jane's last week, looking at DK socks, as POH has put in a request for wellie socks.  Oh, and DS has asked for ski socks!  He has size UK 13 feet, and finds it difficult to find good ski socks to fit him.  I have a sock queue!!

A new creative addiction hobby is born, and I am very happy indeed.

I would love to hear your sock knitting stories and how you got hooked!  Please do leave a comment below.

Bye for now.  Need to turn a heel...

Donna x