Yes, I do know how to knit socks. And have over the years. In fact, in 2007 there was the 52 pr sock challenge right about the time that most of us moved from the Knitlist to Ravelry. Then it was years before I got around to even thinking of knittings sock.
For a while it was the easy seduction of scarves and shawls which could be knit out of the same yarn with fancy and fun patterns. Things that someone else could see and admire. The sad reality of socks was that I had dozens of wonderful patterns, all of which disappear into the body of my shoe or sandal while the lovely top was covered by my trousers. No one ever saw my socks. I knew they were on my feet. It was my secret. The sad fact too was that the 12-16 hours put into a pair of socks had much more tangible, or at least visible, results.
I drifted back off into spinning, knitting of sweaters and vest. At the point where I moved back to Germany from the UK in Sept 2010 right before I was deploying to Afghanistan I thought again about socks. I even packed a few skeins of yarn to take along should I get the urge for handknit socks inside my boots. That winter was nasty, boot socks are boring to knit and dirt was a fact of life. I put a halt on knitting in favor of audio and paperback books.
Then I moved on to the next series of life’s adventures – mostly to do with sailing the seven seas – one cruise at a time. In port shops all over the world I discovered the fun of tourist socks. In spite of the fact that most are made in china – one can find totally fun, wild, strange socks very inexpensively. They are reminders of the places I have been. Did I mention that they are cheap? If one gets worn, lost or has a hole I have absolutely no guilt in tossing the pair. Not so with handknit socks which I tend to coddle like baby kittens.
So I can bring with socks like these on the trip –
from previous trips
purchase lovely angora socks in Iceland
angora and wool and some stretch
or tourist socks like these
Puffins!
or sales socks on the ship.
75% off and they fit right in
This time I brought along sockyarn, dps and a pattern I have been wanting to try. But with all these socks tempting me, I probably will stick to knitting shawls.
