The Yarn Not Taken*

*With deepest apologies to Robert Frost

Two yarns emerged from the yarn shop bin,

One hand dyed, one-hundred-percent wool, a beautiful spin.

Its colors shone in the shop’s afternoon light.

The dyer’s skill, it seems, was just right.

 

I could knit it into a gorgeous shawl,

Add a beautiful pin and be the belle of the ball….

No, wait! Maybe make a lovely sweater,

Using a pattern to make the colors shine better and better!

 

Next to it, I spied a skein of sock yarn,

Kettle-dyed, its colorway reminded me of an old barn–

Reds and browns, even a hint of heather.

Ah! Socks that could be worn in any weather!

 

Washable wool and very soft to touch,

I checked the price– it was not too much!

I stood in the shop, both yarns in my hands,

Knowing that new yarn was not in my budget plans.

 

I thought: “The holidays are coming. I can make great gifts,”

“Or some charity knitting to give someone’s spirit a lift.”

I quickly calculated the cost of both treasures,

And added in my knitting time pleasure.

 

 Two yarns emerged so I made my decision,

From the heart and, perhaps, from some future vision.

Two yarns emerged from the shop in Vincennes…

And I? I took them BOTH and that has made all of the difference!

Why I Like to Knit Socks

There is something so satisfying about knitting socks. For me, I enjoy both the process (the knitting and in some cases, the frogging and reknitting) and the end result. So I thought I would name the top ten reasons why I like to knit socks. I may add more later, as I think of them. They are in random order.

1. I like to see a finished product fairly quickly and socks are small enough that I can usually finish them within a week or so.
2. I hate to sew and since socks have no sewing, just grafting, they are perfect.
3. I also hate to block. Most socks don’t require blocking.
4. Since I have a “beer budget” with “champagne tastes,” socks allow me to buy special yarn, like cashmere, with which I can knit a wearable object.
5. My feet are almost always cold. Wool socks keep them nice and toasty warm. Washable wool means I don’t have to be careful about throwing them in the washer.
6. Since my feet are small, my socks really don’t take much  time to do.
7. When I first started knitting, I disliked purling. Once you get past the cuff, you don’t have much purling to do.
8. Again, socks mean a small ball of yarn and smaller needles, so they make the perfect traveling knitting project. I keep a bag of socks-in-progress in my purse at all times and have been known to whip them out when I have some time to wait.
9. There are SO many neat sock yarns out now that it is quite possible to just do a “plain vanilla” sock and come up with something that really looks fabulous.
10. You can take the sock pattern and modify it to fit your feet, your preferences, or whatever to make a truly unique item. 

 Well, that’s my reasoning for liking to knit socks. What’s yours?

TTFN, Cindy