Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sock it to me

Socks. I loveses them.

I was intimidated by sock knitting for the longest time. Getting a sock started on DPNs is, to me, comparable to wrestling with an angry hedgehog. Then I discovered magic looping, and the rest is history.

For me, socks are the perfect do-anywhere project. A sock fits quite nicely into any or all of the bags that I use on a daily basis. I can do it on the train, without worrying about elbowing the passenger next to me. I even manage to squeeze in a few rounds before starting work on occasion.



Husbeast has gone from thinking that knitting is slightly odd and old lady-ish, to demanding to know when he's getting his next pair of socks. The whole thing is just made of win.

The pair in the photo above are in Lana Grossa, and are knitting up very nicely. Here's where the problem comes in. I won't get to wear them for weeks. Sure, it's Ireland, and we're never more than 20 minutes from a shower of rain, but if I wear wool socks in this humidity, I might just sweat to death from the ground up.
While I love my birkies. they're not workable for wearing every single day.

What's a girl to do?

I bought one ball of TOFUtsies before the big move, and knitted a pair for myself, which are fantastic. The yarn is great, but incredibly thin (and a little expensive) so I can't see myself making a drawer full of them. What do knitters in actual hot climates do? Cotton yarn is practically non-existant here, with the exception of worsted weight and mercerised.

I have a goal of getting to the stage where I only have handknitted socks. Sure, it might seem a little crazy, but it's just another small way I can give big box stores the metaphorical middle finger.

Does anyone have any recommendations for yarn to make warm weather socks from? If it's machine washable on delicate/handwash/cool cycle, even better!

2 comments:

The Knitted Squirrel said...

There are a few stretchy cottons out there.
I find that when I wear wool socks my feet feel better, even in the warmer weather.
I ONLY knit socks on the Magic loop, but I do them 2 at a time, do you?

Orghlaith said...

I don't know what the shipping costs are, but I do like Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. I found this link:
www.woollyworkshop.co.uk/acatalog/Panda_Cotton___Solids.html
At least it is something to look at.