I Have Become A Real Sock Knitter

I never really had a strong desire to knit socks.  Then my friend opened a yarn shop here in the small town where I live in East Texas (it's closed now) and she needed someone to teach sock knitting and I came up as the most logical one. 

So I purchased lots of books and spent a whole month knitting socks (and sock pieces and parts) and writing the course. I wanted to be a purist so I taught on double point needles.  There's something satisfying about knitting socks the same way it was originally done.

I really dove deep into the construction of the socks.  I taught a "sock triangle" using 3 dpns as the triangle and the 4 to knit with, so you always know where the heel is and which way to lean you stitches for the decreases in the gusset and toe shaping.  I knit several pair that way.  Okay, I'm fibbing.  I knit several half pairs! 

I was a victim of Second Sock Syndrome.  One and done.  In my defense, I really only needed one sock as a sample in my yarn booth at fiber festivals.  Only one sock is needed to see how a colorway looks when it's knit.  And when I did finish the second sock it was such a stressful experience for me to make sure it matched the first sock exactly...

Then I took Mina Phillip's class on Yarn Management for Two At A Time Socks at Vogue Knitting Live in New York in January 2020.  It was eye opening!  I loved it.  I had tried 2 at a time before, but Mina's method of shifting the yarn consistently every time worked.  If you have Second Sock Syndrome, look up Mina's method. 

And that's why now you'll find pairs of socks as pictures to show many of my colorways, especially Aussie Extra Fine Sock and Luxe Fingering. 

I'll update this blog post if I find Mina's method on You Tube.

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