I love the idea of working a pair of socks at the same time because how many times does something come up after you’ve worked the first sock? You put down your work and when you return, you realize that your note taking wasn’t quite as detailed as you thought? What seemed obvious at the time when you worked the first sock is suddenly not as straight forward anymore? And then there is this little voice chirping in your ear that you’ve changed something in the pattern but don’t seem to have a record of or can’t quite nail it down anymore? Yep, that second sock sure is a challenge to come out identical to the first (I wonder how I know).
Now, my situation is most likely a bit different from yours since I am a designer and rarely work off an existing pattern. That means that my sock design is still somewhat in flux when I am knitting it up and would require me to unravel 2 socks worth of work if I happen to change my mind about something. And even though unraveling is just part of design work, it is still painful when it is more unraveling than absolutely necessary. With time usually at a premium, having to redo 2 socks is just not something I feel I can afford.
So, there I am with my trusted double-pointed needles cranking away on single-socks-at-a-time.
And no, working one sock at a time is not the reason why I frequently end up with only one sock. I do not suffer from Singlesockalitis! Or, perhaps I am and I only came up with a good excuse for it… ?
So here goes my justification for my single sock syndrome: I frequently use socks as a way of trying out design ideas that need/want to be knit in the round. Once I am happy with my design exploration, I move on to the next item and only sometimes will a design actually end up as a sock pattern. What do you think? Can I get away with this excuse?
My Singlesockalitis is so bad that at home, I am receiving flack for wearing mismatched socks (hey, sometimes they are in the same yarn though!), and outside the house I receive a major cheer by my fellow knitting group members when I am actually knitting a PAIR of socks. Lol.
Another side effect of this single sock designing is that when it comes time to knit up a pair, I tend to forget to split the ball of yarn into two equal parts before I get started (not something I need to worry about when I work on a single sock exploration trip). So I end up dividing up the yarn on the fly by placing the unused yarn on a scale and knit until the scale indicates that I’ve used just about half of the yarn…
It’s perhaps a bit unorthodox but hey, it works and saves me time.
I would love to hear about your sock yarn managing tips. Do you work a ball of yarn from the inside and outside at the same time? Are you diligently splitting the yarn up front, or eyeballing it as you go? Leave a comment below to share your experiences.
Okay, it’s time for me to bind off this sock and get started on its twin. Happy Knitting!
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