Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Favorite Socks, Indeed!

I've had Favorite Socks for a while now. I really do love most of the patterns in it -- it's just I don't make socks all that often and so many of the patterns in the book look much better in the solid sock yarns and...well...this blog's name is "Unafraid of Color" -- if you catch my drift. ;)
(If you don't -- it's nearly impossible for me to work with a solid colored sock yarn.)

A while back though -- I believe it was New Years to be exact -- I bought this gorgeous Araucania yarn. To quote Tracy Jordan from "30 Rock", I loved this yarn so much I wanted to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant. I had no idea what it would look like knitted up, all that I knew was that if I didn't buy it, I would sorely regret it later on.

Within the month, I had cast on for the Embossed Leaves socks -- a pattern that I felt could hold up to the many color changes in the sock yarn...and it seemed like it would be simple enough. I wanted to knit up a "complicated" sock since all the socks I've knit in the past are pretty much you're straightforward stockinette from top to bottom with a 2x2 rib at the top.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me just say that I have never knit a sock (nay, a pair of socks!) as fast as I knit these babies up. I was done with the first sock in under a week, I was done with the pair no more than a week or so after that. The actual hours put into creating these beauties? Well...I don't keep track of hours but it wasn't long!

I have never been more proud of a pair of socks than I am of these (they even won a spot in my Facebook's photo album of "Things I've Made That I'm Ridiculously Proud Of"). Simply put: the are fabulous. Utterly, utterly fabulous. Whenever I wear them, I get compliments -- and believe me, I am a compliment whore.
Since finishing these, I have bought several more skeins of sock yarn and have spent hours perusing sock patterns in the books that I own and on Ravelry. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll be able to create another pair that I love as much as these. They've won a very special place in my heart. When I inevitably wear holes in them? I will buy them sock blockers and I will hang them on my wall (or...maybe not...).

I can tell you all. When Interweave said "Favorite"? Yeah, they weren't lying.

2 comments:

Geri said...

I'm loving the embossed leaves pattern, too! I'm using lovely Peruvian wool - Arequipa and they are so soft and squishy. I'm just finishing the second sock now. Check mine out on Ravelry.

There are several other patterns in that book that intrigue me as well.

Enjoy!

Rich Chard Robinson said...

You should post more.