the Sock Factor(y), or Wart 3

Ok, I'll fess up. I'm a knitter. Mostly by need-- I'm not a fast knitter, but I am dee-termined. Silly clothing manufacturers won't market nice-looking woolen ladies' socks in California, so I determined (that word again) that I would jolly well make my own.

The reason for knitting my own is the same as why I sew. I get color, style, and design control, all with the satisfaction of having made something really cool. I am hardly a knitting maven (I'll let the Yarn Harlot do that job http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/), but I have slogged my way through about a dozen pairs of socks, so far. See? I'm _not_ fast. Just D-termined. Dee-termined. Wossname. Stubborn.

The trickiest bit about knitting socks is simply learning how. When I began, I wasn't at all sure I would even _want_ to continue. What if the dread "turning the heel" was too hard for me? I didn't want to knit the entire leg-of-a-sock, then the heel, only to find out I didn't have what it takes. What a waste of time! What it it wasn't actually FUN? So I cheated. I took a huge shortcut and made ONE HEEL, to prove that I could._Then_ I figured it was safe to invest in some yarn for an actual pair of socks.

Here's what I did, in case you want to learn how to comitt sockification:
1. Bought a 24ç sweater at a thrift store, making sure it was a hand knit so the seam was take-apartable.
2. Took the seam apart.
3. Cut off a sleeve at the elbow.
4. Unravelled the sleeve back down to the cuff.
5. Picked up the cuff stitches and began knitting in the round.
(the cuff was the stand-in for the leg-of-a-sock, as mentioned above)
6. Using Nancy Bush's book, Folk Socks, I carefully followed her instructions for a standard flap heel.
7. Worked the heel, did the heel stitch, the short rows, worked as far as the decreases, and....
8. IT WORKED!

Once that was complete, I had no excuse. Sockfication was mine. I could DO this. So I did. Now my feet walk around in hand knits-- complete with colors and styles and textures that I love. See some at http://the3toad.googlepages.com/home Warm feet are happy feet. Long live wool!