Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Disgraceful

I am not a sock knitter. It's not that I can't knit socks, or that I don't like handknit socks, it's just that I don't quite get the thrill of knitting twenty- or thirty-thousand tiny stitches to come up with something no one's ever going to see anyway. I have knitted several pairs of socks. For various reasons, I don't wear any of them: wool is itchy--yes, it is!;I have thick ankles and skinny feet, so they always slide down; they're too thick to wear under most of my shoes, because my feet are really big and I can rarely find shoes big enough to accommodate my feet, much less my feet plus thick socks; most of the year I wear sandals anyway; etc.

But when the weather starts to get cold (that is, below 70F), I trade my sandals in for clogs (yes, I am a fashion maven, why do you ask?), and this year I've bought a new pair with open backs, which would be perfect to show off some nice, warm, handknit socks that wouldn't be prone to sliding down, since there is no shoe heel to pull on them. This is a convenient excuse to forget how much I don't like knitting socks and cast on a new pair. Except for this:

This is the last pair of socks I cast on, about a year and a half ago, in celebration of a new pair of Mary Janes for springtime. Evidently, my enthusiasm for the project waned before the end of spring and the socks ended up stuffed behind the sofa, not to be seen for many a long month. (For the record, I don't count socks as either WIPs or UFOs--ditto scarves and shawls, but that's a topic for another post.)

And that is just disgraceful. It's not like I fell victim to Second Sock Syndrome--that second sock is more than half finished! Even with my lackluster sock knitting skilz, it can't be more than a couple evenings' work to finish these off. They're even kind of cute, the stripes match, they fit, and they're a non-itchy cotton blend.

And so I'm going to go on record here and state that I will finish these darned things (darned socks--*snort!*) and actually wear them this winter. There. I did it. And you can all hold me accountable.

If sock yarn doesn't count as stash, do socks count as FOs?

12 comments:

Lydee said...

can't wait to see the FO pics!

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

Yes, socks count as FO's, but not stash. Or WIPs.

You can get to work on that second sock, and pretend it's a new project. It's going to go really quickly!

Melissa Morgan-Oakes said...

that looks like SSS to me. You can say you're past the halfway point. But something stopped you. I have a cure. ; )

Anonymous said...

Socks definitely count as FOs, non-stash status notwithstanding.

I have discovered, much to my dismay, that my hand knit socks tend to slide down and twist when I wear them with real shoes. With clogs, no problem. I need to tweak my sock pattern...

Melanie said...

Wait, what's this about the non-stash status of sock yarn??

How's the hair doing?

Renee said...

"when the weather starts to get cold (that is, below 70F)" --
Oh, geez, I'm still laughing at that!!! ...below 70F is COLD?! lol, come visit me and you'll have a new definition of what's cold.

Your socks will be lovely when they're done. :)

sheep#100 said...

You are already in the home stretch!

Gail said...

I love that color sequence. Sock are fun to me. You get to incorporate a few techniques into one project. Love 'em. Maybe you will one day. It took me a couple of pairs to say that. lol

Khalila said...

I think you'll have it done in a week. It's definitely cold enough to keep you motivated. My thermostat on my car dropped below 50 degrees the other night. Frostee!

marit said...

Hubby called home one day (he's been working in Houston, Texas for almost a year) and told me he had to buy a longsleeved shirt because it was so cold...it was around 70F...we were feeling VERY sorry for him-NOT!!!-we had freezing temperatures here!
I knit socks all the time, and wear them all the time- I mean, even during summer our temperatures rarely rise above 70F!!!
Socks definitely count as FO's, but I'm relieved to learn that they don't count as UFO's...LOL!

Good luck with the rest of this pair- you should have it done in a couple of days!

Amy S. said...

Scarves are not UFOs or WIPs? Do tell. My UFOs are all scarves and superannuated baby clothes. I think I'll adopt your thinking on this.

Nice socks. I like the pastels.

Fibra Artysta said...

I love socks but for some reason I knit them at the speed of mud. I'm a reasonably fast at everything else but I move ubber slow at these, not sure why.

Problem for me is I can't resist all the pretty sock yarn. Thank heavens Anne Hanson designs so many lace patterns for fingering weight yarns or I'd have no excuse to continue buying all the sock yarn.