Top 10 Reasons to Knit Socks

1. (Almost) instant gratification.
2. They’re not mind-boggling after the first pair.
3. Cure for cold feet.
4. Great for gifting from babies to Grandmas.
5. The looks you get when asked "What are you knitting?" and you say "Socks": Cool! Weird. That’s a lot of needles. I couldn’t do that. Are you crazy?!?! I can buy a pair for $2 at Wal-Mart!
6. Portable.
7. I can use my favorite Lantern Moon needles.
8. I can afford enough really nice yarn for a pair of socks (as opposed to $200 sweaters I would really love to knit one day after I win the lottery.)
9. Looking good- much better than store bought.
10. My SP gives me great sock yarn!

I really think my SP can read my mind. She always gives me things I’ve been wanting.

I had to immediately cast on the socks. Would have been rude not to, right?

I opened "At Knit’s End" to a random page and read, If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.- Steven Wright. Well that summed up my day. The day before I wrote LynnH to offer my services as a test knitter for new tea cozy pattern. She wrote back and said go for it. What I neglected to consider is the fact that I have no teapot. Actually, I had in mind the teapot that I had seen a few days before at Goodwill for $2.50. No problem, I’d just go back and buy it. Problem. It had been sold. So I spent the next 2 hours driving around town to every thrift shop and cruising the mall, and all I find is a $57 teapot in ugly colors. Not that I would buy a $57 teapot in any color. Genius strikes and I remember Marshall’s. Bingo- $10 teapot. (I’ve always wanted a teapot, I justify, so it’s okay to buy one. Or it would make a lovely gift. Whatever.)

Now I have to find yarn since of course I don’t have the suggested yarn, and of course no LYS to run to for a quick yarn fix. I go by the fabric store and find a perfect green to match in Lion Brand’s cheaper version of Berroco Suede. I get home and it won’t knit up to the right gauge. I go stash diving (which I should have done to begin with) and after a major yarn box avalanche, a twisted ankle, and several "gee, I forgot I had this" moments, I come up with a skein of Bartlett Yarns Rangeley in a pretty blue- perfect gauge. And I knit this:

My adoring family comes home and makes comments like, "You’ll knit anything." "Why does a teapot need a sweater?" "I’m beginning to really worry about you." And the ever popular, "You’re weird." My sister came over. She liked it (after I explained why a teapot needs a sweater). She may get one for Christmas.

Knitting tips from the one episode of Knitty Gritty that I’ve watched: 1. Rub down wooden and bamboo needles with wax paper to make them slipperier. 2. When switching colors at the beginning of a row, knit the second stitch with the tail of the new yarn, then go back to the skein end. This tightens up the first stitch so you don’t have that saggy stitch to deal with.

The End