A Year of Socks: March 2022

I've attempted to teach myself to knit one time prior to this year. It did not go well. I was in high school and for some reason, I did not think it was kosher to turn your work. Like I actually thought you knit from right to left and then you were expected to be dominant in the other hand and knit left to right. Obviously... it was really hard and I gave up.

To be fair, the internet was not the bustling place of 90 second videos that could teach you everything you could ever need to know about anything like it is now. It was 2008 and Vine was being used to film planking videos. We were basically internet content cavemen.

Thankfully over the next 12 years we evolved. It was 2020. The world was at a standstill. I had just had a baby and rediscovered my love of fiber arts. I also discovered fiber content on Instagram. I have learned a lot about anything and everything from Instagram videos over the last couple years, but watching knitting videos made me nervous. Seeing finished knitting project made me envious.

D0n't get me wrong. I love crochet, but there really is something so delicate about knitting. I wanted to be able to knit the stranded sweaters, get cozy in a cardigan and slide around my house in handmade socks on cold midwest evenings. All of that was great, but I mostly wanted those socks.

So when December of 2021 rolled around and my husband asked me jokingly "What are your resolutions going to be for next year?" I replied with "I'm going to knit socks." He thought it was a joke. It wasn't. I had the plan of action in my notes app on my phone (one day, I will tell you people how I went from being a fun fly by the seat of your pants person, to being someone who became a whore for her notes app. Today is not that day).

Step one was to buy knitting needles. Step two was learn to knit. Those two things were the easy steps. Once I figured out that you can, in fact, turn your work and continuously work right to left, knitting was pretty easy. I remembered how to long tail cast on and the basic steps of knitting and purling. Holding my yarn was weird and managing my tension was even weirder, but after making an ear warmer, I was ready to dive in.

I decided my best way of learning would be as follows:

1. Buy Crazy Sock Lady's Vanilla Socks on DPN Pattern

2. Watch Crazy Sock Lady's video for that pattern.

3. Make socks with a larger yarn than sock weight ( I went for a DK weight) and larger needle (I used a 3.25mm)

4. Order very expensive sock yarn from an indie dyer so I would feel motivated to learn.

5. Make horrific first sock with janky stitches and stare at it horrified but proud I completed it.

6. Let my kids turn the janky sock into a puppet because thats all it was good for.

Thats exactly what I did. Only I couldn't wait for the sock yarn I purchased to get here, because I fell deep into a rabbit hole. The yarn dyeing rabbit hole. It's an expensive rabbit hole, but so much fun. So I ordered some sock yarn blanks and dyed them and decided this yarn would make me my first pair of socks.

And it did. They are not by any means perfect, but they are way better than that first sock I made. They fit so well and I love them. I did use the Crazy Sock Lady Vanilla Sock on DPN pattern for these. I decided that DPN is great, but I wasn't sure they were for me. So after watching all her different videos on the different methods for sock making, I decided I would try 9 inch circulars for my next pair of socks.

Since I had somehow managed to achieve my New Years Resolution by the end of March, I wanted to expand it. Why not make a pair of socks each month for the next 12 months? And that is what I am going to do. From March2022- March 2023, my new goal is to make at least one pair of socks a month... for myself. This is going to be my year of selfishness. It's all going to be for me.