Thinking about socks

Yesterday Donna posted about a flurry of activity she's whipping up to finish Marilinda, her current Personal Sock project, by its due date. It reminded me of my own current Personal Sock Club installment - languishing with only about 13cm of the first sock completed.



My Sock Club schedule for 2009 is not too hurried as I've set myself only 7 pairs for the year, and I have about another month to finish these. I like the rather retro, sometimes austere style of many of Nancy Bush's socks (these are Country Socks from 'Folk Socks'), but this time I think I might have erred too much on the side of plain-ness to inspire me feel passionately about them. Still, they will be useful.

I've also recently read Jane's blog post about her current sock knitting - and her Ishbel. Her flurry of sock knitting is more like a whirlwind, with a number of socks cast on to test different sock knitting techniques she's teaching. She makes some interesting comparisons in passing of Cookie A's and Wendy Johnson's recently published books and sock styles and has (almost) convinced me to try toe-up socks. Jane's socks mostly remind me of spring. Even when she's knitting them in the depths of an English winter the colours are fresh and the patterns joyous.

And this evening I looked at the classes for the 2009 Sock Summit that's being held in Portland, Oregon in the USA in August. Nancy Bush herself (my hero) is teaching several classes - one on traditional Estonian socks, and another on adapting vintage patterns. Wouldn't that be fun? Still, I'm not feeling too envious because I'm planning to attend the Byron Bay Writers' Festival at just the same time as the Sock Summit. I'm sure I'll find some of my local heroes there - even if they're not knitters.

So, I'm hoping all this sock stimulation will inspire me to resume my Country Socks. Maybe I'll even get them finished before the self-imposed deadline.