Everyone has their favorite comfort knitting. Something that you can pick up any time you want, take a few stitches, and know that it will relax you, fulfill the tactile desire for fiber, and be waiting for you whenever you are ready to pick it up again, with no knit shaming involved (Where you been, huh? How come you cast on something new? Don’t you love me anymore?). For some people this might be a hat, for others socks, or shawls. There are even “sweater people”, believe it or not. Me, I’m a blanket person. Don’t ask me why. Maybe it’s because they are practical, one-size-fits-all, and typically mindless. But seriously. How many blankets does one household really need?! I’ve made two for my son (who adores them but doesn’t use them) and have at least 2-3 more in progress. I bet you quilters feel my pain.
Time for a new favorite.
Did you now that April is Sock Knitting Month at Interweave? That got me thinking. A good look at my stash would make you think I am planning on outfitting a small army of oompa loompas with self-striping socks someday in the future, with a few cabled ones thrown in for good measure. I thoroughly enjoy knitting socks, yet rarely do I sit down to do so. Somehow the gauge issue, rationing of yarn (if top down) and measuring gets me all kerbobbled and I think, “maybe another day.” Not comforting or relaxing at all. But why shouldn’t it be? Why should I knit fancy cabled laced and tasseled confections when I could knit plain vanilla and be (probably) just as happy? Damn, I actually love vanilla! I could certainly use socks more frequently than another blanket. I’ve wanted to try knitting an afterthought heel for a while now, so I’m going to start with this pattern and see where it takes me. If I like it enough, who says I have to ever knit anything else? I could just knit vanilla socks with afterthought heels until I run out of stash or my fingers fall off. I don’t care if other sock knitters will think I’m lame. Right? Right. That’s what I’m gonna keep telling myself.
Just like this clip from one of my all time favorite movies (Elf), I’m going to make socks my new favorite!