Back in 1999, I made a few pairs of socks using self-striping yarn, because it was interesting yarn and didn’t work right for sweaters or whatever. I hated it, because double-pointed needles are a nuisance to work with. Over the last 10 years, people have invented other ways of knitting small things in the round. I tried Magic Loop and hated that too – it interrupted my flow because every half a row I had to stop and fiddle with the cable – but never tried using 2 circulars until recently. Mostly this was because as a spatially-challenged girl, I couldn’t get my head around the idea. Chris bought me a book about it, and there were some videos about it on YouTube, but it just didn’t make sense until I found some tutorial on the web which was very simple and got me over all my fears. I knit Alex a test pair of socks with this method, and they fit, they were easy to do. With this method, stitches are secure while in transit (they always used to fall off my dpn’s) and the process goes very quickly! A sock takes me less than a day now, and so, in the light of several other knitting-related things, I have designated 2014 as The Year of the Sock.
Rules:
At least one pair a week.
No purchasing new sock yarn in 2014 unless 20 pairs are completed by March 15. (Yes, I’m frantically combing online sites for interesting sock yarns I can order today!)
Yes, we will end up with 52+ pairs of socks! However, I’ve got foot measurements from all the family members, so you can expect gifts of socks periodically.
This idea came to me about a month ago, but I’m very glad it did. Because I just finished knitting a coat of my own design (using my Vacation pattern, available on Ravelry, but with added sleeves). Took me almost three months to knit. The fabric is beautiful, warm, nice and wintery-looking and fills a hole in my outerwear wardrobe. The coat fits well and doesn’t itch too much, and the yarn only cost $120 (not bad for a plus-sized coat). Unfortunately, although it got a full wet-blocking treatment to increase its drape (4 days to dry!), it looks fab from the front but hellish from the side. The back does not fall straight down but ‘bells out,’ making me look about 100 pounds heavier than I actually am. I’m not sure what to do with the coat. It’s a keeper, but not for wearing! So, since it did take three months and did cost $120, I’m disheartened, and won’t do any more long-term experimental projects like this for a while. Thus, the Year of the Sock.
Some photos to round out the old year:
The US Picks 