Confessions of a sockless knitter
Yes, I’ll admit it, I’m a bad knitter. I’ve never knit a pair of socks.
My queue is full of sock patterns and my stitch books have tons of post its with “sock!” written on them, and yet, I’ve never made a single sock.
I tried, once. But I think it was a little too early in my knitting career to really make an honest go of it. I started a pair of toe-up socks and got so frustrated by all the wrapping and turning the pattern required, that I gave up. I’ve since now mastered w&t, but I still haven’t tackled a pair of socks. My excuses are endless, too.
I don’t have sock DPNs and I’m not ready to knit socks on magic loop, yet.
I don’t have good quality sock yarn to learn with.
I have too many other projects on the needles.
I am not good at knitting two of things, which is why I’ve always failed at knitting mittens.
All the patterns I really really really like are too advanced for a new sock knitter.
You name it, I’ve got the excuse. People keep asking me where my hand knit socks are, and I keep saying “still working on it!”, even though I’ve never even started. There’s also the fear of stash explosion that’s preventing me from starting up with socks. I already obsessively buy every yarn weight heavier than sock yarn, I don’t know if my pocketbook or my bedroom can handle that much more knitting. There are so many gorgeous sock yarns out there and I’m afraid my buying habits will exceed the extreme of even the most intense sock knitter.
So here I sit, sockless (literally, because I wore ballet flats to work), pondering my dilemma. Do I dive into the realm of socks now, or do I wait until I finish the two sweaters I have on the needles? Do I put off sock knitting until I get some of my current projects out of the way? Do I never knit socks? Do I wait until summer to knit them, when I won’t be able to knit anything else because I live in California and it’s going to be over 100 ungodly degrees in my un-air conditioned house all summer?
I don’t want to be a sockless knitter. I love socks. I buy socks with a sort of reckless abandon that has been perfected over the years. You name the sock, I’ve got it. Knee high, thigh high, toe socks, slipper socks, snowboarding socks, rainbow socks, socks with holes… you get the point. I love socks! You would think that sock knitting and my obsessive need to own as many socks as humanly possibly would be a match made in heaven.
But it’s not.
I’ll admit it – there is the intimidation factor. Socks are a little scary, especially when you’re a bit of a perfectionist.
Socks are great! (Delurking to help you out here!) I’d suggest maybe the Anastasia pattern. It’s mostly stockinette, with an interesting, easy swirl going on. They were my first socks on really small needles, and are an easy way to start. Good luck!
[...] difficult, you needed teeny tiny thin yarn, you had to use DPNs, and many other reasons. I was a Sockless Knitter. But now, you could say, I’ve reformed: I’ve become a knitter obsessed with [...]