My $100 Pair of Socks

I bet not many of you could say you'd paid $100 for a pair of socks.  Well, probably not many of you would admit it if you had... it's kind of a dumb thing to do.  But...  let me tell you about my $100 socks.....

It all started out when we were on that cruise...  Barbara, one of the folks with Wholly Genes, the software company that sponsored that conference...  spent much of her time knitting.....  socks.  In fact, when Bill & I were in a yarn shop in Nova Scotia, I saw her there buying some lovely yarn.  During the cocktail hour at the end of the cruise, I looked her up to ask about her knitting.  (Doesn't everyone spend their cocktail hour talking about socks?)

Anyway, she told me she got that particular pattern from Ravelry and got her yarn from Simply Socks, a company located in Ft Wayne, In.  Now, for those non-fiber folks, Ravelry is a great website that I've subscribed to for several years...  great patterns, great resources, great forums...  all for the knitter, crocheter or anyone who loves working with the fiber arts.  

As soon as we got back to the farm, I  looked through all my stored books and magazines, but...  alas...  no sock patterns. When I had internet access, I checked out the books Amazon had for sock "know-how".  Amazon had several...  and I chose 2 ...  each cost about $20.

Then...  on to Simply Socks..... oh my goodness!  SO many choices...  so beautiful.  I love working with fine yarns...  I love the colors, the texture, the ease they flow through your fingers....  

Okay...   these are the books I bought at about $20 each.....  The yarn on the right is the one I chose to start with...  if you add in shipping, it's probably about $20.  The problem here was that as I knitted along, I didn't think I'd have enough yarn in one skein to make a pair of socks...  so....  I got on-line and ordered another skein of each color.  Hmmm... this pair of socks is getting a bit pricey.....

I've been knitting for over 50 years, and still have my original knitting needles and other knitting supplies.  So why should I need anything else?  Well...  truth is, I probably didn't....  but....  these new bamboo needles feel so nice...  so easy to work with.  Besides (do I need to discuss my rationale here?) bamboo can be taken through security on airports...  I could knit while flying to...  well... Costa Rica next week.  

More knitting supplies....

Okay... besides the airport security issue (hmmmmm) I'm going to learn how to knit a pair of socks on circular needles.  Yeah...  I have much of this in my stash of supplies, but it takes TWO PAIRS of whatever size you need.  One 16" needle and one 24" needle of the same size.  Who'd'a thunk?  Okay...  into the shopping cart.  There's a Michaels Craft Store in Granbury...  they had pretty much what I needed.   And, truth is, it cost "a bit" more than I'd expected.

Oh well...  I finally finished the first sock...

And I'm well on my way with its mate....

I chose "Hermione's Everyday Sock"  (you know... Harry Potter)....  and I love it.  I love the pattern, I love the yarn, I love the texture, the feel of the yarn...  I love working with it.  I'm not ready to tackle the circular socks yet... so these are one at a time.  I will NOT have the "Second Sock Syndrome"  (I think that's a knitters term that means they have fun with sock #1 but get bored with sock #2).  In fact, I can hardly wait to finish this pair so I can start on another pair.

I mean, seriously...  with colors named as...  "Malibrigo Lotus" or "Iris" or "Hand-dyed Sapphire"....  how could you not get excited about making a pair of socks...  even if the darned things DID cost me $50 a sock?

Okay folks...  don't get upset about my spending habits....  the 2nd pair will be only the cost of the yarn...  less than $20....  and if I have leftover yarn from several pairs of socks...  just think...  that last pair of "Joseph's Coats socks" will be absolutely free!

I'll report back when I finish that 2nd sock.  I promise!

That's All For Today!