The Great Christmas Sock Project of 2009

Last year, I learned to knit. In an effort to figure out this knitting thing and to clothe my family at the same time, I embarked upon The Great Christmas Scarf Project of 2008. I made scarves for the whole family. Lace scarves, cable scarves, drop stitch scarves, scarves of every shape and description. By the end, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on the basics.

Now there are people who knit, and then there are knitters. For non-yarnies out there, I will clarify by saying there are people who catch a rerun of Star Trek every now and again, and then there are people who own Spock ears, quote the Rules of Acquistion incessantly, and listen to Warp 11 on the way to the convention in full Klingon garb. As the Yarn Harlot explains, you either visit or you move in, if you can grok that.

And amongst knitters, there are people who knit socks and then there are sock knitters. It’s this whole subculture. People get sucked into it like a shuttlecraft into a wormhole. It takes over their lives, their needles, their stash. “Turning a heel” is spoken of like a spiritual ascension, enlightenment attained.

So I made a pair. They worked. I made Luke a pair from the scraps. They worked too. And I thought to myself, I like wormholes; what the hell?

So jumping into a new obsession feet first with my eyes wide open, I embarked upon The Great Christmas Sock Project of 2009. Cuff down socks, toe up socks, magic loop socks, two-at-a-time toe-up magic loop socks. Socks on circulars, socks on straights. Short row heels and heel flaps and gussets. Resolable socks, sport weight socks, fingering weight socks. Fair isle and lace and cables, self-striping and duplicate stitch. In short, socks. Lots of socks. Ten pairs. Well, 10.5. One is still sort of in progress and I took a break from Christmas knitting back in May to make another pair for me.

I set out to figure out socks. To figure out if I’m a sock knitter (affirmative). To figure out how I like to knit socks (cuff down, one at a time, heel flap, dpns). I borrowed books. I bought sock blockers. I will never have to look up kitchener stitch again. I had a major milestone when I turned a heel successfully in the dark and another when a friend called me because the lady sitting next to her on the bleachers at a kid’s sporting event was having problems with her short rows and I was able to offer a workaround on the phone.

So Christmas day 2009, I passed ten little boxes of socks around to my family complete with my sock manifesto – sort of a save the sock, save the world deal. And here they are in all their sockish glory. Warm toes and busy fingers.

Here’s to 2009. Who knows what 2010 will bring?

Mom’s Ambrosia Socks
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Handpainted Ambrosia in Lavendar Cream
Pattern: Baudelaire Socks by Cookie A.

Dad’s Fair Isle Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Sport Sock Yarn in Cobblestone Heather with fair isle pattern in White and Winter Night
Pattern: Tweedy Fair Isle Socks by Susan Lawrence

Griffindor Socks for Chris
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Harry Potter Sock Yarn in Harry and Ron
Pattern: Two at Once, Toe Up, Magic Loop Socks by Knit Picks
Code Name: Big Foot Socks

Resolable Socks for Poppy
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Harry Potter Sock Yarn in Harry and Ron
Pattern: Two at Once, Toe Up, Magic Loop Socks by Knit Picks
Code Name: Big Foot Socks

Albin’s Tweed Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential Tweed in Russet
Pattern: Cable Rib Socks by Erica Alexander

Kelly’s Green Socks
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ty-dy Sock Yarn in Green
Pattern: Seduction Socks by Ann Budd

Kid’s Socks
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarn Bunny Hop Prints in Rainbow (w/ additional heels and toes in
Pattern: Dobby’s Socks by Alison Hansel

Shawn’s Tech Guy Socks
Shawn gets two pairs for being the love of my life.
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Sport Sock Yarn in Cobblestone Heather, White, & Winter Night
Pattern: Tech Guys Socks

The Drupal socks were by request when my husband discovered Emma Jane’s Drupal logo knitting chart. Sadly, it was just too big for my gauge on this project so I made my own, which you’re welcome to, if it interests you. Shawn has spent at least as many hours coding for Drupal as I have knitting on socks this year.