The Sock

We have a sock war going on in our house. I have recently taken up knitting socks with a passion. After completing a pair of little pink ones for my niece, baby T (who is due to arrive almost any day), I decided to bestow a pair on my wonderful husband. I let him pick out his own yarn, I chose the pattern and ran it by him for approval and cast on...without knitting a swatch to check my gauge. Now for non-knitters, not knitting a swatch to check your gauge is like walking into a store and randomly grabbing a size of whatever clothing piece off of the shelf and not bothering to try it on before purchasing it. I know, I know, stupid but when you're so excited to jump into a project sometimes you just go for it even though you've read a hundred thousand times NOT to do that, sometimes you just do it anyway. That's what I did. Not only that, but I also ignored the comments from friends and even Tim saying that the sock looked a bit big. Well, not being one to rip out my hard work, I pushed on lying to myself all the while that it would be fine. 2 weeks later, I finished the first sock. I lavishly presented it to my wonderful husband who put it on and had the nerve to announce that it was too big. When I asked him what size he wanted me to do the second sock, he answered, "the same size you're going to do the third." Uh oh. Wrong answer.

I promptly declared him un-sock-worthy right then and there and thus, the war began. I decided that I just didn't have the heart at that moment in time to rip out the entire sock so I set it aside (after wearing it for a full day just to prove the point that it was indeed wearable - so there!). I knitted myself a beautiful PAIR of slipper socks that Tim now threatens to steal because they look like the right size for him...not so. I've taken to hiding them when they're not on my feet and I'm expounding on the comfort and pure coziness my feet are enjoying at that moment.

It's truly been all in fun. I know that it was my fault. I'm taking it as a learning experience and I knew that at some point I would be ready to rip out my beautiful work and try it again. Well, today was that day. I just finished unraveling the ginormous sock and winding the yarn back into a ball to be made, yet again, into a sock. This time, however, I know my gauge and I will knit to it. I will constantly be requesting fitting sessions to be sure that it's fitting right and, if necessary, I will swallow my pride BEFORE I finish it and rip it out to make sure it fits.

My children, however, remain un-sock-worthy. Anyone who slings their socks this way and that on a whim, wears them outside without shoes and can't manage to get any piece of clothing into the dirty laundry until it can stand on it's own from build up of dirt and guck isn't yet worthy of my socks. Maybe by the time they get married they will be, but not today.