Sock-proud

So yeah, socks! Most of my woollen socks have been knitted for me by my grandmother, and I'm starting to wear them again, after a little summer break. I wear them with pants, skirts, ankle boots, ballerinas, nothing else, and occasionally high heels, which I actually prefer to wear with stripey socks. I feel like it makes them seem less pretentious.

I know you think I despise acrylic or polyamide yarn, but in socks, I have to admit it makes sense. Wonderful as it is, wool wears out fairly quickly when rubbed against a warm foot and the inside of a shoe. So my grandmother always buys special 'sock-yarn' with 20% polyamide to go along with the wool. I had a pair of 100% wool socks which were worn out after one winter, so I'm grateful for the synthetic element - otherwise, I would have to do a whole lot more darning than I'd like!

My grandmother used to take us shopping for yarn in the colors that we would like, but one day, I thought, 'Wait a minute, what does she do with all the leftover yarn?' It turned out that she used it for darning socks and didn't think any of us would want a pair of socks made from yarn scraps. But I really wanted a pair like that, and so she made them for me. The funny thing is, I had expected a pair of socks with completely random colors, but being the neat and orderly woman that she is, of course she had coordinated the scraps so that the two socks had precisely the same types of stripes in exactly the same pattern! I loved them, but I did mention to her that she needn't bother with being systematic the next time - she could just use up the scraps that she had. So now we have sort of a deal that when she has enough scraps for a pair of socks, she makes some for me.

Anyway, my sister and I dug out some socks to show off how we wear them. Don't be afraid to show your pride in a pair of home-knitted socks, wear them for the world to see! - And please share some pictures with the rest of us!