Fiddly Sticks (and String)

I haven't thought of myself as a 'sock knitter'. Yes, I have knit a few pairs of baby socks, but I've never knit a pair of socks for myself. I've never knit a pair of grown up socks, pair being the operative word here. I have a few single socks living a life of solitude in a drawer, never having got to meet their mate. Sad, yes?

The thing is, I don't knit a very good sock. I do okay. I follow the directions and am able to construct the sock okay. I'm not satisfied with okay. It's that blasted little gusset hole which always shows up, no matter how many tricks I've read about and tried, that keeps my socks from looking good. In fact, the one in the picture below doesn't even muster okay. When this happens, I get aggravated, feel defeated, and lose the heart to make another one to create a pair.

Granted, this is the worst case I have to show you, but I wanted to show the worst to exxagerate my point. I'm doing all the right things, according to what I've read, but this, in maybe a less exxagerated form, keeps happening with each sock I knit.

Being the discouraged perfectionist that I am (a perfectionist who lacks the energy or perserverance to do a perfect job, so they don't do the job at all), I had pretty much given up on sock knitting. That's a hard resolve to keep when every knitter in blogdom is showing their lovely, latest pair of handknit socks. I want to be one of them, the knitting blogger who can show off her lovely handknit socks!

I've decided part of my problem is that I don't see myself being a good sock knitter. I'm not talking new agey mumbo gumbo hype. I'm not talking about the Secret, at least not the one Oprah pushes (sorry, Oprah fans, but I just don't buy into that garbage).

You are snared with the words of your lips....

Proverbs 6:2 a Amplified Bible

I have decided the only thing between me and a well knit pair of socks is practice, possibly lots and lots of it. I'm going to keep trying until I get it right!

I scored the Magic Stripe yarn at our local Big Lots. Apparently, Lion Brand has discontinued that line of yarn, so I was able to buy 4 skeins of it for $1.50 per skein. For that price, I can afford to use it for sock practice. I have a few skeins of nice sock yarn on hand, but I've held off using it, not wanting to waste it until I perfect the craft.

This time, I decided to knit two socks at once; no, not the two socks on circulars method, but two separate socks on separate sets of double pointed needles being knit at the same time...well, not exactly the same time, but you know what I mean. I finished the cuff and leg part of the first sock (these are going to be shorties), then began that part on a separate sock using a separate skein of yarn. When I've finished the cuff and leg on it, I'll knit the heel on each one, and so on.

The glaring mistake I made, which you can see in the picture at the top of the post, is not starting in the same place in the color pattern of the second skein. Hence, my socks will not match. I've decided rather than frogging it (ripping it out, for my non-knitterly friends), I'll leave it, though. I think I'll like the funkiness of it.

Lastly, I'll leave you with a pic of Leyna, snuggled in her favorite blankie.

Oh, and feel free to offer suggestions for my gusset hole problem in the comment sections. I'm open to whatever you've got! :-)

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

~Col. 4:6