Single Sock Seeks Sole Mate

Question:  How many socks are in this picture?

Answer: Two and a half.

Bonus Question:  How many pairs of socks are in the above picture?

Bonus Answer: Zero, zip, zilch, null, nada, none.

Where are the mates to those socks?  Um, well, I haven't bothered to knit them yet.  There is a well-documented phenomenon among sock knitters called Second Sock Syndrome.  Usually SSS prevents the knitter from producing a matched pair of socks because said knitter either found the knitting of the first sock to be a big pain in the you-know-where or it wasn't challenging enough and now the thought of doing it a second time bores them to tears.

As far as I know, I am not actually suffering from SSS for these reasons.  My problem seems to stem from the fact that I still cannot turn a heel from memory.  I have no good excuse for this but I do fear that by adding anything new to my brain, I would be pushing something else out causing me to start forgetting things like how to drive or tie my shoes.  That said, I often knit in public without my instructions handy so if I have a sock on my needles that is at the critical "heel turning stage," and I don't have time to actually perform the steps necessary to complete the "heel turning stage" before I know I will be knitting in public again, I transfer the sock from my primary needles to my project holding needles and start a new sock that I know I will be able to mindlessly knit away on wherever I might be (in line at the bank, at Disneyland, waiting for a movie to start, watching a movie, etc.).

I know all of this probably sounds like terribly fractured logic but it somehow seems to make sense when I'm in the midst of putting a sock on hold.  I am hoping that my 40 day mission to complete old projects before starting anything new will help to alleviate my SSS.  There is a possibility that I will attempt to memorize how to turn a sock heel so just as a precaution, if you see me behind the wheel of a car with a puzzled look on my face or walking through a public place with my shoelaces untied watch out, I just might be trying to remember something.

Again With the Socks!

Here's some more nifty stripey socks! As soon as I started knitting them, I knew they were going to be a birthday present for my good friend, Susanne (sometimes you just know- ya know?). Now that I've finally given them to her, I can unveil them here.


This was my first time using Lion Brand's Sock-Ease yarn. I picked up a ball of it because I loved the colors and I wanted to see if one ball was indeed enough to complete a pair of socks. It was, and then some (I've been able to make two wine dribble stoppers out of the leftover yarn and I'm pretty sure there's enough for one more). This yarn is not as soft as some of the other sock yarns I've been finding out there but I'm hoping that after a few washings it will loosen up a bit. Again, the most attractive thing about the Sock-Ease line is the colors. Also, they all have candy-inspired names, which makes knitting with them that much more delicious.


There are also seven solid colors called Marshmallow (off-white), Rootbeer (medium brown), Circus Peanut (red-orange), Grape Soda (royal purple), Lollipop (bubblegum pink), Green Apple (olive green), and Snow Cone (teal blue). So many possibilities, so little knitting time.