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.

Socks in the Archives

One of my favorite databases is ArchiveGrid, which allows for "searching through historical documents, personal papers, and family histories held in archives around the world". Access to this proprietary database is available through a variety of institutions and serves as a tool to locate finding aids; it is rare to actually find the materials digitized. With that said, here are some I found searching for socks.

Hoyt Furman letter : San Francisco, to A.B. Jones : ALS, 1852 Nov. 30.
Discusses business conditions in San Francisco during the time of the gold rush, focusing on the market for woolen socks for the miners.
University of California, Berkeley

Anna H. Beckmann letters, 1944-1945.
This collection consists of V-mail (Victory mail) letters from World War II addressed to Anna H. Beckmann. Five letters are from Munroe J. Epting, written from San Francisco, 1944. In the letters, Epting writes of personal news about life in the navy, people in Savannah, the dangers of the war, and of his discharge from the navy. One letter is from Luke Beckmann, written from Germany in 1945. In the letter, Beckmann writes of family news and requests knitted socks.
Georgia Historical Society

Sarah Lois Wadley Papers, 1849-1886
This collection includes a draft of a letter to a Captain Marks of the Vicksburg Blues, ca. 1861, about knitting socks and clothes for the troops.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Boyd Family Papers 1857-1982.
These papers include correspondence regarding the knitting of socks for the Red Cross. 1914.
Trent University Archives

I did, however, come across this photo of Naalbinding Socks on the University of Arkansas Library Special Collections page.

January Socks Are Finished!!

I know. It's already the end of March. But I am thrilled these socks are done. On to February's socks!

And how long did it take me to knit them? Well, I've realized it's difficult for me to determine that. I knit a few rounds and then go start the washer. I knit a few rounds and go outside to pick up the mail. I knit a few rounds and go fill the bird feeder. I knit a few rounds and check my email. My guess is that it took me about fourteen or fifteen hours to knit the pair of them IF I had just been knitting, but it's only a guess.

Do you like my sock blockers? I love them! I got them from The Loopy Ewe. They also sell Cookie A.'s sock patterns, lovely yarn, and gorgeous knitting bags.

Think Outside the Sock Contest Ends

The Think Outside the Sock competition has ended, but photos of the 293 entries can be viewed here. The winners will be featured in the summer issue of Knitters Magazine. You can see a preview of them here.

Keeping Track

I've started keeping track of how long it takes me to knit this sock. I've included the time it took me to cast on and knit twelve rows of ribbing. It took 45 minutes which seems extraordinarily slow to me, but perhaps knitting in the back of the knit stitches does take a bit longer.

New Sock Books

I have two new sock books on hold at my public library and I'm anxiously awaiting their arrival.

The first is Sock Innovation Knitting Techniques & Patterns for One-of-a-kind Socks by Cookie A. It's scheduled to be available next month and will include fifteen sock patterns. I've also joined two related Ravelry groups: one is devoted just to the book (Makin' Cookie's) and the other is more general and includes her other patterns as well (Cookie's Knitalong). Cookie A.'s website can be found here and includes a preview of her book.

Her pattern for Pomatomus socks can be found on Knitty and I have them on my to-do list. Here are some photos on Flickr.

The second book is Knitting Socks With Handpainted Yarn by Carol Sulcoski. It was published last January and my library has ordered it, but it isn't in yet. It includes 21 sock patterns from a variety of designers. A review and a preview can be found on the Interweave site.

How Long Does it Take to Knit a Pair Of Socks, Anyway?

I decided earlier this month to knit a pair of socks a month. The green socks would be for March. I'm still on the first sock and I've just turned the heel. I'd also started a pink lace sock for February and it's at the spot where I need to start the heel. And then there are January's socks. Those are a bit further along. All I have to do now is the toe.

But still. I have three partially finished socks. And each one is the first one of a pair. I'm also working on preemie hats (see my Knitting for Peace blog, ) but last week-end I was only able to complete three of them and that was a four-day week-end for me. I can't knit on my way to work (I drive myself) and I can't knit at work either. Yes, many librarians are knitters, but no, we don't knit at the reference desk. My lunch is usually 15 minutes between shifts so there's no time there either. Mornings are filled with housework and by the time I get home I'm often too tired to concentrate on knitting. That leaves my week-ends, but they're starting to fill up with chores and other projects. Spring is coming soon and I'll want to garden.

So where does this leave me? I work best under pressure so perhaps I'll set myself a goal. Finish the January socks (both of them) by the end of March. Finish the February and March socks in April. Then I'll only be one month behind. Or perhaps I should just set aside my goal of knitting a pair of socks every month.

I don't really know how many hours it takes me to knit a pair of socks. It depends on how complicated the pattern is and how often and how much I have to tink. One thing I'll try to do is keep track of how long it takes me to knit the second January sock and then I'll be able to decide if this sock-of-the-month idea will work. In the meantime, I'll just knit.

Here is a photo of the yarns I've chosen for my sock-of-the-month, January through June.

Making Time for Knitting

I work as an on-call librarian and archivist and today I'm working a double reference shift--one from 1-3 pm in the archives and then another 5-9pm at the main reference desk. This leaves me two hours free in between and as it doesn't take that long to eat dinner, I'll be spending part of that time in the staff room working on this sock. I have several pairs on the needle that I realy want to finish. This is one.

Pattern: Plain sock pattern from Ravelry
Yarn: Poison Ivy Green from Black Trillium (Etsy)
75% superwash merino wool/25% nylon 100g/437 yards
Needles: 2.5mm dpns