Sock Obsession

How did I get started knitting all these socks? And why?

Last winter my feet were cold and when I looked in my sock drawer I realized that I did not have one pair of knitted socks. Not one pair! I've been knitting for years and have knit dozens of pairs of socks, but there were none left. I'd worn them out or given them away as gifts. I needed socks. Wool socks! Bright socks! Striped socks! Lace socks! I needed a lot of socks!

I began a quest to knit one pair of socks a month. I was too late to join Sock A Month 7. Still, I persisted in knitting at least one pair of socks a month. One month I knit two pairs. Last month I knit three pairs (plus one pair of baby socks). This month I'm on my way to knitting four pairs (plus one pair of baby socks). I have joined Sock A Month 8 which began in July.

My inspiration is this photo. She has fifty pairs of hand knit socks! Fifty pairs! Awesome! It took her several years of knitting to get there. I believe it.

My goal is 20 pairs of socks (not including baby socks) by the end of the year. It doesn't leave me much time for making doll quilts or quilting the tops I've inherited , for knitting preemie hats and other items for charity, for gardening, for baking, for bird watching, for church work, for reading, and for the other fun things I love to do --not to mention working, eating and sleeping-- but I am obsessed. It may take me two or three years but I am absolutely determined to have a full drawer of hand knit socks. They'll probably end up lasting me the rest of my life. That is, of course, if I stop there and I'm not promising that I will.