I love sock-knitting. It’s the perfect portable project. I have to spend a lot of my time waiting for other people. I am not good at waiting and doing nothing. Knitting keeps me sane and my fingers from tearing sheets of paper into small pieces or playing with candles or flowers that happened to be within reach.
For me knitting is very much about the process, I find it relaxing, interesting and exciting. And I think people who don’t knit like seeing people who knit. A few weeks ago I was knitting in an airport and the elderly lady in seat next to me said that it was so lovely to see someone knitting. I also love the fact that as a knitter I am able to make beautiful, useful things for myself and others. And I don’t think anyone can have too many socks.
I think I must have knit more than twenty pairs of socks this year. Several of them left my house before I could photograph them. I know however that they are greatly appreciated and frequently worn.
The socks in the pictures are Christmas gifts for friends and family. Every year I tell myself to plan ahead, but I never listen . One pair was knit in June, the rest in the last weeks. And there still is an unfinished sock on the needles, I hope I will be able to finish it by Saturday.
From left to right:
Plain stockinette sock in Trekking XXL (I don’t remember the colourway)
Spey Valley from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, in medium weight Socks that Rock, Pink Granite.
A simple ribbed pair of socks (k 6, p 2), in 4 ply Regia color
Traveller’s stocking from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, 4 ply Opal Uni.
Inspired by Annemor Sundbø’s latest book Usynlege trådar i strikkekunsten (Invisible threads in the art of knitting, - English edition forthcoming), I decided to knit a sweater for one of my friend’s new baby.
I love this book, it has plenty of patterns and at the same time it gives a wonderful insight into the history and traditions of knitting and knitwear. I am especially fond of all the photos of old and worn knitted clothing. In our consumer society we need to be reminded of the real value of things. Today most of us can allow ourselves to throw away perfectly good and even new pieces of clothing just because we don’t like them anymore. Clothes are becoming so cheap that we tend to forget the labour behind even the lousiest of t-shirts. The photos in Annemor Sundbø’s book remind me that not very long ago resources were scarce and clothing and everything else had to be used over and over again. Good parts of worn out clothes would be used to mend other clothes, or perhaps be made into something new like a sock, mitten or a doll for a child.
For my babysweater I chose traditional pattern elements charted in the book. I enjoy making something new based on tradition. I hope this sweater will be worn by the boy I made it for and hopefully by other children as well.
I am particularly pleased with the little deers, I think they look so optimistic and cheerful and they make me smile every time I look at them. It’s the work of a talented, yet forgotten designer.
PS: The yarn for both this sweater and the Setesdal sweater from my last post is Rauma babygarn. For booth sweaters I used 2,5 mm needles for the ribbing and 3mm needles for the rest.
