Tuesday, March 18, 2008

These Socks Left The Cities



And went to North Dakota! I used the basic sock pattern from the Yarn Harlot, which is pretty much my standard sock pattern these days. This was the first time, though, that I turned a heel without actually consulting some other pattern for detailed steps. I feel so liberated!

I have no idea what this self-striping yarn is. I bought in on a trip to Arizona this winter, and I thought it would simmer in my stash for a long time. Instead, I ended up bringing it with me on a business trip, and I hastily tore the label off of it and misplaced it. At any rate, I'm not usually a fan of self-striping yarn, but this one really fit the recipient.

And yeah, I suppose I could have made them look the same, but when I use self-striping yarn, I prefer to make each sock look a little different. I like seeing how each part of the sock knits up differently. It's a good thing I prefer that difference, too, since the yarn was actually broken and knotted together, with a big chunk of the pattern missing.

I think these socks turned out okay. I made them for my mother, for her 75th birthday. Her first pair of handknit socks. When I make handknits for other people, I like spending my knitting time thinking of that person and what they mean to me. I enjoyed making these socks, and thinking of my mother, how she likes to quilt, and how even though I don't quilt, we share this broader connection to hand made gifts. Hopefully, she'll like them as much as I enjoyed making them for her.

2 comments:

Amanda H said...

They're wonderful! I love that you spend your gift knitting time thinking about the recipient. I have done that when knitting a few special gifts and when knitting prayer shawls for hospice patients, and it always feels so much better than just letting my mind wander to work and other mundane things.
Do you think you'll make any adjustments to the "recipe" in the future, or does it work for you as is?

Minneapolismama said...

Thanks for your nice comments! I really tend to see the "recipe" as a loose set of guidelines, which is the way I tend to cook, too. Nothing gets followed too precisely. So, yeah, I'll make adjustments, but I can't really say what they would be, because it'll depend on what I'm doing the next time I'm making a pair of socks. On thing I do like, though, is the twisted ribbing on the top, which I didn't do for this pair, but will for the next.