Chat-back from recent posts:
On my Time-Traveler's Wife thread:
"Sue said...I loved this book wept buckets at the end."
It is an especially poignant book for me. I have a dear friend who traveled a great deal for his work, and would pop into and out of our lives, much as Henry deTamble did, never naked, of course : ) but often tired, or ill, or cold, or discouraged at the nature of his job.  He would often be away for weeks at a time, sometimes with no contact with us.  I think of him often when I read this book.

PandaBearofDoom said...I haven't tried socks yet, but I can't wait to  
Love your user name! :)  Socks aren't hard at all. If you can knit and purl and do a couple of basic decreases, you can knit socks, and they're nearly-instant gratification.  I'd be glad to help you learn. 


josiekitten said...Well done you for writing your own sock patterns. That's something I'd like to have a go at too. You're right, knitting is great therapy. I always turn to my knitting at times of stress.
Writing patterns is not too difficult, either.  You just need to know basic sock construction and a few measurements, and you can do it! I can work with you to show you, if you like.  I get bored easily, and I have rarely knit the same pattern more than once.  I knit all my socks two-at-a-time on two circular needles to help prevent Second Sock Syndrome.  I have a whole pile of singletons around here somewhere that were knit as samples for my published patterns...I don't know if they'll ever meet their mates!
Working with yarn is the very best stress-reducer for me.  Even sorting through my stash, untangling snarls of yarn and winding balls will relax and center me.

 
AC said...I need to learn how to use up odds and ends! 
AC, a good friend taught me a wonderful way to make this work.  Sort your small balls of yarn by colors.  Since I knit 2 socks/2 circs, if the yarn is self-striping, I usually will try to divide it into two balls, making the stripes repeat the same way in both, if it's solid colored, I just work from both ends of the same ball. 
Use a simple, pretty lace pattern for your socks, and change balls of yarn every two to four pattern repeats.  You'll be amazed at how well they'll turn out.  This is how I knit socks for my granddaughters last December, using up small bits of yarn from my late sister's sock yarn stash.  Scroll down for that entry "Girly-girl socks" to see them.

katiemckinna said...Looks like you've done alot this year. Your blog tripped me out, because it looks almost identical to mine. It was confusing for a moment! :-)
Katie, I just looked at yours, and we've used the same Blogger template!  Love your 'Anatomy of a Sock', by the way. = )