I have been completely focused on knitting shawls for the last couple of weeks. Suddenly April arrived yesterday and I remembered that I need to locate the yarn and pattern for my April sock (hey, I’m taking this New Year’s resolution seriously!) so I could get started knitting on it during breaks from the shawls.
Well, I do have some sock books to look through. I counted them a couple of years ago, and I had 22 books that were just about socks. That is just embarrassing, but I’m still buying collecting books when they have a couple of patterns that I really like. I spent the morning going through the books, putting in slips of paper to mark the sock patterns that I liked, and basically developed a headache and made no decisions. It was pretty darn overwhelming, frankly.
My yarn stash is stored in plastic drawers and bins in the walk-in closet of my spare bedroom. OK, I actually bought the house because of this closet attached to the small bedroom/craft room. When I go stash diving I have the fun of tossing the yarns that I like back out the door of the closet onto the floor of the craft room. (Please don’t visualize a dog burying a bone. It’s not that bad. Really.) Wow! There were sock yarns in there that I loved when I bought collected them years ago and I had completely forgotten about them. I gathered all the yarn up and carried it down to the family room with the books.
One of the yarns that really jumped out at me was a wild pink Frolicking Feet handpainted skein. Oh, boy, This baby will need to be tamed when knitted into a sock. Because of the way it is handpainted I’m pretty sure that pooling will be a problem, too. I turned to one of my books, Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn by Carol J. Sulcoski, for help. This book is one that I like as the patterns indicate what types of handpainted yarns can be used (from “nearly solid” yarns to ones that are called “wild multi”). My hot pink problem child is what I would call “wild multi” for sure!
Bingo! Exactly what I need. Say hello to the April 2015 sock. I am ready to go.
Except for this. A funny thing happened while I was sitting there with the book and the bin of yarns. Suddenly the exact right yarn for several of the patterns in this one book jumped out at me. I now have made three more matches and am ready to knit through the spring and into the summer. Here they are:
Hey, that was easy! It so pays off to go stashing diving sometimes. I am really fired up to get started on the April socks now, and I have so many projects waiting that it may be hard to not knit more than one sock this month.
I still have all those marked socks in the books I went through this morning. It’s looking like this will be the year of socks. Midnight knitting at its best!
Yarn, Books & Roses 
I’m always seduced by wild hand painted skeins – I think I need to “collect” that book too!
It really has helped me avoid some unhappiness since I keep buying crazy painted skeins. 🙂
Wow! I’m feeling more than a little envious of your stash right now, the colours are amazing. I still have yet to crochet a pair of socks I am really happy with. Socks are the one thing that make me wish I could knit more than a scarf! 🙂 Sharon x
It is a stash to love. It does seem like it would be hard to crochet a sock – would the fabric be stretchy enough? I just love the blanket you are making. Makes me want to crochet. 🙂
I did crochet a couple of pairs with chunky yarn, more like slipper socks really, but I wasn’t happy with the heels, maybe I need to try with sock yarn? Thanks about the blanket, I would recommend giving crochet a try, it grows quickly which I love! X
I do like to crochet, but it is hard on my wrists. I can get away with knitting as long as I stick to small needles.
That’s a shame, it’s tough when your health stops you doing things, I’m glad for you that you can still knit :-). X
You are such a good knitter. If I made a resolution like that I’d break it. There is no way I could stay so focused and its makign me a bit sad because I LOVE handknit socks. I need more of those. My fee need a pair for every day.
My feet insist on the socks so I’m pretty motivated. Also, it’s easier to knit something small (like a sock) with a giant cat on your lap. 🙂
Loooooove those socks!!!! You are amazing!!
I’m excited about them too at this point. Can’t wait to wind the yarn and get started. I promised myself I’d finish a shawl before I did that. Right now I’m sitting at the car repair shop knitting on the shawl like crazy!