A sock is my time, my heart, and a good dose of my soul. I knit them out of yarns I love. Some are a challenge - patterns, cables, colour work. Some are not, but they are a record on conversations with friends. My socks are an essential part of my knitting life. It is much harder to let them go.
Moving makes me face up to the problem of my sock drawer.
The problem of my sock drawer is that it looks pretty empty. There are a few pairs in the wash right now but even making allowances for that, it is a pretty empty drawer.
So why is the drawer suddenly so empty? Because the darning pile is really BIG.
Doing a real thorough job going through my sock drawer did that. I knew this was coming. I have a lot of socks that I haven't worn for months. There never seemed to be time before my move to repair them. There are two Geek Socks in the pile waiting for heels but they all amount to the same thing. I wear socks through on the heels so what you are really looking at is a big pile of heels waiting to be knit.
It's not that bad really. Most of these have afterthought heels, which are easy to replace completely. you just pull back and knit a complete new heel. On most, the original fabric is far too thin to do a small patch, so a new heel is a great idea.
At least one pair in the pile has a hole beside a small patch. It's a nice pair and warrants the second repair and a completely new heel. Some pairs, sock one had a hole and was repaired, but now sock two needs work.
I am giving up on these. Completely.
The pair here was knit on a camping trip about 7 years ago. I was trying to see if I could knit a whole pair over a whole weekend. I did, but they were a shortie pair and my hands hurt by the time these were done. They have been repaired at least twice and doing it a third time? NOPE. I draw the line at that. There is a point where even socks you fondly recall knitting, must be left behind. They do not last forever.
Th third sock here just happens to be the same colourway but in a sport weight yarn. The other sock is lost and has been for a long time. I can let it go.
Moving means every drawer is emptied, every thing you own is touched and packed. It gives you a chance to get rid of what you no longer want or need. Unpacking means that you can order and sort the things that remain.
For now, my sock drawer is looking really ordered and tidy and the darn it pile is not. I'm going to need a week of just heels to reset the balance and make things right.
Repairing socks. That in a nutshell is the problem of having a sock drawer you are deeply connected to. And I kind of like it that way.
Yup. I hear ya. Me too. In fact, I've at least for the moment given up knitting new ones and instead spend "sock time" darning the old ones.
ReplyDeleteIts the dog walking that kills them.
So I just look fondly at the hand knit ones lined up in the drawer as I reach for/choose a pair of ready made ones every weekday morning then I treat myself to the others on the weekends when someone else walks the dog. "Needs must".
My plan for just this problem is to do a pair a week: either I finish a pair in needles or mend a pair from the pile. So far I finished one pair and have mended four pair! This way I see progress but don't get burned out and quit all together.
ReplyDelete