Socks

Its been a while since I talked socks, hasn't it?  Well, that is about to change.

I happened to be digging in the sock yarn leftover box (I cannot call it a scrap box, because I knit my socks so short that there is always plenty left over.), for something to use as waste yarn and I came across the remains of the prettiest sock yarn I ever had.  

Right then and there, I decided that the remains of the prettiest sock yarn really ought to be knit into socks for the prettiest little girl in the world.**  

See?  Now doesn't that just look like the perfect socks for a wee sweet thing?  I started them with just the blue yarn, and ripped back to redo with a white toe.  The white offsetting the blue is what makes this yarn work so...umm...prettily.

All but the white toe was the work of a scant half hour this morning.  I did the white toe right at the end of the day at work.  I'll use the white again for the the last few rows of the cuff too.

It made me wonder about other sock yarns in the bin.  This yarn is particularly well suited because it is so softly multi coloured.  Tweedy really, rather than spotted or space dyed.  

I dug out the bin again and had another look.  Oops.  Right at the top there are a few yarns which did not perform well in my washer and dryer torture test.  They are pretty but if they can't pass me, they won't work for baby.

That still leaves a lot of choices, but there are a few yarns that won't work very well for small sized socks.  There are a couple of yarns with long stretches between colour changes.  Those won't work well, because a baby sock uses so little yarn that an entire sock might happen in one colour.

So what do I have left?  

There are a couple of nice yarns in here, some that will work particularly well, like the blue at the far left side.  That is such a blend of blue and white that it won't even pool on something this small.  There are a few yarns with short stretches of patterning, and some where on a baby sock it should stripe up in a really pleasing way.  I see yarns that I knit socks in for one of her great aunties and some from her moms socks so there is a little family connection other than me. 

I even have a plan for that dark gray 6 ply.  Can't you just see some baby ugg type booties out of that?  Of course that means I have to go yarn shopping to get a little something fuzzy for the shearling part of the boot, but can't you just see it?  

I love socks.  I might just love wee socks even more.

**All babies are the prettiest baby in the world.  Every single one of them tugs at my heart strings.  It is just that I love this one best.  She is my very own prettiest baby in the world.  Such is the way of things.