Friday, January 2, 2015

second

IMG_2482 IMG_2483 IMG_2485 IMG_2491

I do four things while I'm knitting a pair of socks.

The first and most obvious is that I knit the stitches that create the socks. I love everything about this part from the shaping of the toe, to knitting the foot, creating a gusset, turning the heel, making a heel flap, knitting up the leg and finally creating a band up the top and casting off.

I listened to a podcast today where Jerome Sevilla of Grid Junky spoke of his love for knitting with very fine wool. He spoke of how the fact that it takes so much longer and so much more commitment to create something from such fine wool makes it more meaningful and more special and I totally get that.

The second thing I do is think a lot about the person I am making the socks for. I think about them wearing them and I also think about them and my relationship with them. I think the fact that socks take so long to knit makes them such a meaningful present and I love that I have that gift to give.

The third thing I do is carry them everywhere I go so I can sneak in a row whenever I can. This means my socks travel and become part of my life and my conversations and my memories. I cast on the green socks above at a birthday pool party. I knitted them throughout all the end of school festivities, they calmed and soothed me when we lost a friend far too young, I knitted them in the paddock while we had coffee breaks and at nights after the girls were in bed. I finally cast off those socks at another kid's birthday party which made me feel like I'd knitted all the circles and come full circle.

And the fourth thing I do while I'm knitting a pair of socks is think about how I'll photograph them finished. Years ago in my early times of blogging I used to read a knitter's blog even though I didn't knit. I loved and related to her posts about her family and her farming and her other crafts, but as I wasn't yet a knitter myself I used to skip over her knitting posts. It occurred to me some time later, that each time she cast off a project she'd drape it against her garden wall and photograph it. Every single time the same shot. When I finally did become a knitter I decided that I wanted to take photos of my knits that would be interesting and pleasing to non knitters and knitters alike. Sock knitting seems to have the added challenge of taking interesting, pleasing photos of something otherwise very mundane.

So as I knit each pair I imagine them against white walls, tucked up in white bed sheets, climbing up trees, sticking out of work boots, upside down and in all sorts of interesting and odd poses. I'm very lucky that so far I've had obliging models with pretty strong stomach muscles.

The details for the Diagonal Lace socks are here.

Do you do any or all of those things while you are creating too?
Or do you have other loves and means and ways?

I hope you found a little time to do something for yourself today.

Biggest love

xxxx

26 comments:

  1. Lovely socks Kate ~ I'm glad you are finding time for yourself. Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year ~ hope it's a good one for you all :0) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jackie, I hope this year is such a wonderful one for you and your gorgeous family too. xx

      Delete
  2. Beautiful post, I pour love and emotion into what I make, my mothers love blanket was made whilst I sat beside my mum as she was dying.....I talked to her about what I was making and how much her love and life inspired me. She died just after I finished it, there's bittersweet memories as I wrap it around me. I am so glad I had that special time with her, and really told her how much she meant to me. I'm sure it bought her comfort as it did me xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh love, that breaks my heart in a happysad way. I've been thinking of your story all day since I read it. What a gift that love blanket is. xxx

      Delete
  3. Socks go with me wherever I travel, too. You can get so much done in a few stolen minutes here and there. I pretty much do all of the things on your list, with one extra: I panic that something will be wrong with them. They'll be too long or too small, too colourful or not colourful enough. And then I worry about what happens if they develop a hole and I'm not there to fix it. Somehow, that's all forgotten when the socks are handed over to their new owner, thank goodness!

    Those are lovely socks and it seems I have the book in which the pattern is featured, so I'll definitely be adding this to my list of projects for 2015.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh yes I do that one too!!
      I think that's why I've only knitted socks from the one book/designer so far.
      And I'd never thought about holes, yikes!! xx

      Delete
  4. Hello, I like the detailed pattern and the colour is a pretty shade. I frogged my socks as alas I went wrong somewhere and found I was missing a stitch or two. I lost heart as they took an age to do. But I think I will cast on and start again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Faith. I hate the thought of finding those missing stitches but I urge you to try again, sock knitting is a wonderful thing. x

      Delete
  5. I love that so much thought and so many stories go into the knitting of a pair of socks that you make... it epitomises what handmade is about really :) Also I am a non-knitter but find myself transfixed when the post about knitting something is beautiful, as is this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness Charis thank you!!!!!! That makes me so happy. x

      Delete
  6. Lovely socks! I am wearing handknitted socks made by my granny right now. The best thing for cold winter days and I can feel the love she put into making them!

    I don't knit (crochet is my addiction) but I like well taken photos of knitting work!

    Take care
    Anne (Crochet Between Worlds)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are such a lucky duck to have a sock knitting granny Anne, I so wish I did. xx

      Delete
  7. gorgeous post and socks!

    i am not really a knitter although i have mastered a pair of felted bunny slippers that's the extent of my knitting skills and i have made them for everyone.

    i know exactly what you mean: thinking about that person as you stitch.

    i am a sewist by trade.
    it's the same thing though, there's more into those handmades than the gift receiver could ever imagine.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was consumed by this post. By the beauty of your words about something as simple as a pair of socks. I love the thought you put into them, the love and the time.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful socks and beautiful words. Thank you.
    Blessings,
    Betsy
    http://betsy-thesimplelifeofaqueen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love your photos, they always have a calming feel to me for some reason. I'm a crocheter (new to hooking) and adore it. I make things for people and like you think about them as I'm hooking, I think of it as a little bit of love mixed up in the yarn. I also think of how I'm going to photograph them, but I'm such a novice with my phone as my only camera, but it's still fun :)

    Jan x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh si! A mí me motiva mucho cuando tejo para otra persona, para mis hijos o hijas por ejemplo, me hace mucha ilusión cuando aprecian lo que hago y lo utilizan , ( que no siempre es así ) . Yo todavía los calcetines los hago a punto jersey, sencillos... me gustan mucho los que nos enseñas, el color de la lana y el diseño que has elegido,...¡¡¡ son maravillosos !!!... me inspiran y animan tus proyectos a intentar la siguiente vez de hacer un poco más elaborados los calcetines ...No comento siempre , aunque quería decir que cada vez que veo que tienes una entrada nueva me lleno de alegría, es uno de mis blogs preferidos y quería agradecértelo por plasmar y compartir tu rico mundo por esta ventanita virtual. ¡¡¡ Gracias !!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Those socks - while heartfelt and a lovely colour/pattern - are making me HOT!! x

    ReplyDelete
  13. This post makes me think I want to knit a pair of socks, even though I am more a crocheted than knitter. Though the thought of a project that takes a long time is rather daunting.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Even though I don't knit, I love reading your knitting posts. These socks look so comfortable, believe it or not I have a left and right sock in each pair- strange I know but I don't like lumps in my shoes ;-) Love the pattern/detail in these green ones!
    The most meaningful and therapeutic thing I have made was the blanket for my sister when she was going through chemotherapy. It meant a lot to both of us.
    Last winter I started crocheting my second blanket made of granny squares. It is currently sitting idle in my crochet basket but I do remember sitting in doctors waiting rooms with my girls, visiting my Mum or heading to a cafe with whatever square I was working on, my hook and ball of wool in a big snap lock bag inside my (large) handbag. I love that so much thought goes into handmade items that are made for others. x Dre

    ReplyDelete
  15. I definitely do those things, especially the thinking of the recipient and the memories of where I was as I was making (to use a well-known phrase) "with love in every stitch".

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Kate,
    Where do you recommend starting ... was there a first 'easy' pattern that you used for starting off learning how to knit socks? Thanks (in anticipation) Anne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Anne, the only socks I have ever made are from Wendy D Johnson's book - Socks from the toe up. I love them all, they are such easy to follow patterns and such well fitting socks. I highly recommend it. Have fun! xx

      Delete
    2. Thanks Kate .... I'll now go and hunt down that book. It's definitely something I want to learn ... conquer even ... for 2015!

      Delete
  17. I love how you describe the things you're thinking about while knitting... I am just learning how to knit socks and it takes all my brain power to concentrate on that but I am looking forward to the day where I can do all the things you describe. Also, your pictures are beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kate, you have hit the nail on the head. The love and thought that goes into a handmade item, the care and wishes, the love, is so hard to describe, and you have done it masterfully! I hope you done mind my sharing this post on my facebook page; it's that wonderful...

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for stopping by...

I do read every single comment you leave and appreciate it very much, but I should let you know that I can be a wee bit on the useless side when replying to comments, that's just me, everyday life sometimes gets in the way....so I'll apologise now, just in case.

Kate XX

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Visit my other blog.