Socks

Knitting is a favourite pastime of mine. I feel lost without something on my needles. If there is nothing else, I can always knit dishcloths. Even though I am fairly proficient as a knitter, I must admit that I find socks very difficult.

When I was in Japan on the Arne and Carlos tour, we all received a little bag containing a 100g ball of Regia yarn and a pattern. Everyone had a surprise colour way; mine was “Fall” (i.e. Autumn). The yarn changes colour as you knit and has the appearance of fair-isle knitting without the hassle. On the trip, everyone was knitting on the bus, but I preferred to watch the scenery or talk to people. I knew that I would make mistakes if I tried to knit at the same time.

Back home, I’ve started on the socks:

One problem with variegated yarn is getting the second sock to match exactly with the first one. They both must start off at the same colour point, but it’s not easy to figure this out. Here is a pair I knitted some years back in a yarn called Gallipoli which celebrates the colours of the ANZAC armed forces at the battle:

Gallipoli socks

My mother knitted these socks for me

My first attempt at socks, now wearing out!

My mother was an even better knitter than me. In those days, there was no TV or YouTube to distract people! But I never saw her knitting socks. However, when I lived in Vienna and learned to ski, she produced some really thick and dense ski socks for me.  I later found out that she had made her fingers sore, knitting the yarn double.