Sock Seduction

I've been seduced by socks. Toe-up socks to be exact. I've knitted socks in the past, the traditional top-down type, and while I've enjoyed the process to a point, I never fully understood why people were so into knitting socks. They never quite fit right, never quite matched in size; things were always a little off somehow. At Stitches and other knitting events, I'd see people parading in their socks and didn't quite get it.

Then last week, I decided to try toe-up socks, since the big reason for doing socks this way is that you can try them on as you knit them.

I used yarn from my stash: fingering weight from Sheldridge Farms in a nice heathery blue-green, and worked with Ann Budd's article on toe-up socks from InterweaveKnits. Once I got the toe going, I found that yes, indeed, I could try on the sock as I worked. The moment I slipped the sock on over my toes and it fit my foot as if it had been made for me, I knew this is what I want to knit. I realized that a well-made, well-fitting pair of socks is a treat to the feet. And, unlike sweaters where you pick a pattern and knit it up and then find out that the style is unflattering or there's some other problem with the finished item, socks will always fit, always be flattering, never make you look fat.

The second sock matches the first sock exactly and both fit like a dream.

And, as I've progressed to my second pair, I see that you don't really need a pattern or a gauge swatch, once you understand the basic principle.

So here I go. Now I'm looking at sock yarn and sock needles because of course I need to have the right supplies........