wip: lassie socks + YOH day 1

In the beginning: how did you get into the craft?

My best friend in the 8th grade taught me how to purl using a pair of size 5 aluminum straights and some red heart yarn. After getting a hang of it I purled miles of garter stitch scarves in that size 5 gauge. I remember getting in trouble with some of my teachers while knitting in class because of the threatening look of those needles too. With some experimenting I figured out the knit stitch (which I later learned was actually the twisted knit stitch), and a really really tight bind-off method that didn’t involve knitting a stitch before pulling it over the next one. I don’t think I have any of my knit pieces from then anymore—they were all given away as gifts or to charities. I was the complete opposite of a selfish knitter back in the day!

After some time, I got into other hobbies and the knitting fell by the way side. It wasn’t until the summer of 2012 that I took an interest in it again after uncovering the stash in my closet. I pulled up a Youtube tutorial, learned about Ravelry, made this blog, and got right to it busting the old acrylic stash from middle school.

I’m glad I got into this craft the way that I did. The rediscovery of knitting came during a very difficult part of my life, offering a sort of therapy. Since picking up those needles again I learned a lot more about the process of learning and how to accept it. While it’s still a struggle to really let the mindset encompass the rest of my life, the importance of just getting to work is clear to me when I have a hat being knit in my hands. Any and every project, no matter how daunting, is done just one step(or stitch) at a time. And that blanket (or to take it further than that, portfolio, weight loss, or  song on the viola) just requires a little bit of time every day to see it done.

Speaking of projects—I finally picked what I wanted to see that Kroy sock yarn turn into. I made a point of looking only at my ravelry queue too to be good, and chose Lassie by Jennifer Beever. If you remember, in my previous post I was going to choose the Mr. Pitt’s Socks, but after doing a dozen or so rows of the cuff I realised that this was going to have to be adjusted to fit my smaller foot and ankle circumference (the pattern’s intended for a larger size) and just frogged the whole thing to start on Lassie. After getting as involved as I was about sizing and mods for Jason’s socks, all I want to do is follow a pattern and enjoy another person’s design decisions for a change. And so far it’s been a pleasure to see this pattern progress.

I mean, it may just be the fact that you actually see a motif appearing after a few rows but I feel like these are progressing much faster than the last ones did. When working on an all stockinette sock (even if it is in a self striping or variegated yarn) it feels like the damn thing is never going to get done sometimes. I think Lassie is just the thing I need right now and I think I might try to finish it within this month.

This post is part of Rebecca Bee Designs’ Year of Handmade. Click through to learn more and participate!