Socks In Progress

A very quick update, a copy of my recent post to the Womens Artistic Soul yahoo group:


I am still knitting socks and not doing much else creatively. I am sure
that there is a reason for that, the sock knitting must be fulfilling needs I
have right now. Perhaps it's need for small, manageable accomplishments, for the
rhythmic working of the needles without having to think very much for great
lengths of time. I am always doing at least two different socks at once, so
that I might be working on the more thought-requiring parts (heel flap, heel
turning, gusset, toe) on one sock, but meditative stockinette on the other. And
of course I also like the change of colorway from one to the other.


The sock knitting also seems to be giving me a better sense of sock structure
and technique. I have knitted quite a few socks, but whole heel/gusset
construction has never made sense to me -- I always have had to work it with a
pattern in front of me and the appearance of the heel/gusset has always seemed to
me like magic. Now that's not unpleasant at all, to have a magical,
wondrous sense after knitting something. But what I find unpleasant is my own fog
about this, about not having any understanding/visualization of the technique.

So I am happy to report that my current sock obsession is cutting through the
fog a bit.

These are very happy socks-- in Opal patterned yarn to which I have matched a
solid color for the heel and toe. Just cause I like socks with heels and
toes like that!

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This is a picture of my August scrumble for that same group's monthly Freeform Exchange:

This is about the size of my palm, done in hand-dyed sock yarns from Claudia's Handpaint and Shibui and 2.5 to 3 mm hooks. Fun - really! And of course, inspired me to continue with more doodling in those finer yarns. Don't think I could plan to do a whole big project that way, but at some point perhaps there will be such an accretion of these scrumble doodles that a big piece will sort of naturally come together.

Always trying to trick my tendencies for instant gratification and short attention span....

Namaste,
Zann