Knitmore Girls - Operation Sock Drawer: The Guide to Building Your Stash of Hand-Knit Socks

BY JASMIN & GIGI, THE KNITMORE GIRLS

IT STARTED WITH two worsted-weight skeins of hand-painted yarn: one zebra striped, the other brightly variegated and rainbow colored, sold with the Cottage Creations booklet (the one from the early 1990s, the ubiquitous one with the sock recipe). It was the usual fiber festival scene: knitters and crocheters gathered in a huge convention center, colorful skeins of yarn as far as the eye could see, wool fumes in abundance. Gigi bought a kit, brought it home, and made Jasmin a pair of socks. And then another. And then another. Jasmin wore them cheerfully with her super-cool Birkenstock sandals. When Jasmin got really into spinning her own yarn, Gigi agreed to knit socks out of any yarn she spun. It was a pretty terrific arrangement.

Socks are the bonbon of the knitting world: a small, decadent bite. You can carry one in-progress around in your purse, stash it on the dashboard of your car, orfor the bold of heart and firm of bottombehind the cushions of your couch.

Not long after, Jasmin started knitting socks, too. She used different yarn and learned from a different book anddespite Gigis expertisedug in her heels and informed her mom that she didnt need any help. (Jasmin was 14.) Those socks turned out lovely, and it was a great lesson in using the right yarn for the right project. (100% alpaca socks are divinely decadent, but they lacked the necessary elasticity. They make a great slouchy sock, though.)

Socks are the bonbon of the knitting world: a small, decadent bite. You can carry one in-progress around in your purse, stash it on the dashboard of your car, orfor the bold of heart and firm of bottombehind the cushions of your couch. (This last one violates Rule #2 in Gigis Rules of Knitting, though: Never Leave Your Knitting on a Chair. Rule #1, naturally, is Always Finish Your Row.)

Because youre holding this book, we know youre a sock knitter. If our observations are correct, wed even guess that when you bought the yarn for your first pair of socks, you probably bought yarn for at least two pairsbefore you even knew you liked knitting socks! Thats how irresistible sock knitting is. Its really the yarn; its always the yarn. Whether its a rich semisolid, a bold variegated, or a cheerful self-striping, each skein of sock yarn sings its siren song: Buy me. You want me. Wiggle your toes and imagine me as a pair of socks. See? Were just right for each other. And before you know it, that skein and some of its friends have made their merry way into your stash. How do we know? Because, fellow sock knitters, we are one of you.

Before we can talk about the Etsy incident of 2014, we have to talk about Instagram. Instagram is, by far, the most tempting place for a knitter to go. Its a never-ending stream of gorgeous knitting, irresistible yarn, and so much inspiration. Its also a powerful medium for learning about the lives and experiences of others in our communitythe secret sauce of the diverse knitting community. In what can feel like a very isolating world (and activity), the people behind the knitting and the yarn take it from just a skein of yarn and give the fiber meaning, making it special. Vacation yarn, festival yarn, gift yarn, you-would-not-believe-what-I-paid-for-this-on-sale yarn: each skein has a story. When you compliment a knitters socks, shawl, sweater, or hat, youll be hard-pressed not to get the name of the pattern, the person or business who dyed the yarn, andif its handspunsometimes the name of the sheep, too!

As Jasmin scrolled through her [Instagram] feed, her knitting life changed. Susan B. Anderson, sock knitter and designer extraordinaire, had posted a picture of her sock drawer... it completely changed the way Jasmin looked at knitting socks.

You might not know this, but Instagram was actually developed by knitters who understood the need to stand and shout, Im knitting this thing, and isnt it amazing?! from the rooftops. We guess they developed it because they didnt receive an appropriately enthusiastic response from their loved ones when explaining why their knitting was so exciting. (Okay, so this story isnt even remotely true, but Jasmin really wants it to be. After all these years, she showed her spouse a particularly ingenious method of shaping, and he responded with, Oh.

Oh? Im putting this on Instagram. This is more than just Oh, she told him. Instagram, as usual, did not disappoint.)

As Jasmin scrolled through her feed, her knitting life changed. Susan B. Anderson, sock knitter and designer extraordinaire, had posted a picture of her sock drawer. On the surface, you might think thats nothing earth-shattering, but it completely changed the way Jasmin looked at knitting socks. The goal was no longer to just knit beautiful socks (just?), but now to knit an entire drawer of heart-stopping, makes-your-heart-sing-theyre-so-cheerful, statement socks.

The darker side of inspiration (and admiration) is envy, and Susans sock drawer brought out Jasmins inner green-eyed monster. Envy as green as an appropriately named skein of indie-dyed sock yarn. And thats how the Etsy incident of 2014 started, with skeins from dyers from around the world finding their way into Jasmins cart, then her mailbox, and ultimately, onto Instagram and into her sock drawer.

With a tongue-in-cheek hashtag, Jasmins trademark enthusiasm, and the camaraderie that comes with a knit-along of epic proportions, we encouraged the listeners of our very popular podcast to follow suit and make their own drawers of beautiful socks. #Operationsockdrawer was off! Our Knitmore Vanilla sock pattern is free on Ravelry (with instructions given exactly as we do it), but this book is for those of you ready for something exciting, a little challenging, and a whole lot cheerful.