Sock Raving Mad: Confessions of a Junkie

I've completely lost it.  I've gone mad crazy for socks.  I'm so socked!

The story goes like this...

I've been snooping around for projects to knit next week down in Costa Rica.  Socks seem the logical choice, but uhm the brown sock hasn't been knitting itself.  The truth is, I've never actually knit a whole sock.  So, Sunday afternoon I got out some left over yarn to practice sock techniques.  I didn't want to get stuck in Costa Rica without the Interwebs to consult.  I worked up a frankenbooty -- just enough to work through the heel flap, the "turn" (which always sounded so scary) and on down to the kitchener toe. 

It had me at the turn. 

A light bulb went off in my head. I may have started to sweat a little.  I felt a frenzy creep up from the depths of my belly and into my throat.  OMG, I'd awakened a sock-knitting beasty.

   

I got B all riled up too.  He already knits vicariously through me, but he was digging the socks.  We're sitting on the couch mulling over our dinner menu when he suddenly goes, "Baby, you have to knit socks."  "I knooooowwww,"  I replied. 

So then what do I do?  I start nosing around online for sock tutorials.  I find Silver's Sock Class who opens my eyes to the wonders of The Magic Loop.  You mean you can knit two socks at once?  This is seriously mind blowing.   It doesn't take long before I'm trolling the Web drooling over self-striping sock p0rn in crazy, zany colors. 

I have a weakness for wacky colored clothing, but that doesn't work so well, say, in a downtown D.C. office.  After 10 years of working in the fashion vacuum of the U.S. capital, my wardrobe is more than a little drab. 

Socks are different.  It's like wearing naughty underwear - no one has to know but it changes your mood nonetheless.  When I see pictures like this, I lose it.  The crazier the colorways the better.  Even B's got a thing for bright colors.  There's nothing he'd like more than a pair of electric-koolaid acid socks.    

Inhale. One. Two. Three.  Exhale. One. Two. Three.

I check the Web site of my local yarn shop up in Leiden.  They don't seem to stock sock yarn.  I check the UK shops (Angel Yarns, K1 Yarns, HipKnits), and they'll take a week or so to deliver.  This was not boding well for next week's sun and knit yoga retreat, not to mention the 15 hours of flying each way.

Then yesterday morning I posted to the Knitty Board in their extra special sock forum.  It all fell into place from there.  The Esoteric Knitter turned me onto Astrid's Dutch Obsessions, an online shop here in the Netherlands.  Her site is in English, and she has a HUGE selection of sock yarn. And the best part: she can get my new sock stash to me by Wednesday!  I leave Friday.  Three cheers for Astrid.  By the way, her North American shipping rates are not bad.  Check her out.

I can only imagine what Astrid thinks of my order.  A little Opal Crazy here, a little Lana Grossa Fantasy there.  Seriously.  My whole order is like that, not a solid color in the bunch.   Grrrrr!  Beware the sock yarn beasty!

BUt did this satisfy me?  No! Astrid's going to make my month, but I still need to master The Magic Loop before I lose contact with virtual civilization.  I hop on my bike and head over to a small yarn shop I've never been to where I scored a skein of Sheepjes Invicta Coloris No. 1713.  I've dubbed it: dreamsicle.  Don't you just want to lick it?

Here it is sunning itself in our foyer waiting for me to take my coat off and get started.   

When Valerie commended me yesterday for admitting to 16 projects in the pipeline, this is what I was talking about.  Astrid's shipping me a year's supply of sock yarn (judging from how long it takes me to finish projects).  My goal is to knit everything up before we move back to the States in the fall.  This, of course, will help me justify a last-minute spending spree before we move.

Breathe.

Comments

[Heather]

We have alerted the local mental health authorities in the Netherlands and they'll take it from here.....hahaha! Yes, another addict!! Believe me, I know that rush of adrenaline that the discovery of the magic loop can engender. I am hooked on it and will never do another sock any other way.