Jaywalking

I mentioned in my last post that ribbed (knit 3, purl 1) socks are one of my favourite go-to sock projects. It is dead easy without being boring – an approach I instituted a couple of years ago when I realized I wanted to keep knitting socks but couldn’t manage the monotony of stockinette socks every single time I needed a “plain” pair. (You know, as opposed to the crazy pairs. Not that I’d know anything about that.) Plus, it works with any sock yarn – solid, shaded, multi-colour, self-striping, whatever you happen to yank out of the stash and want to work with that day.

My other go-to sock project is the Jaywalker pattern. This one sort of snuck up on me, because the first time I knitted it, it turned out too small, and the second time I knitted it, it became so tedious I didn’t think I was going to make it.

And then, I happened upon a combination that I really loved, with Jaywalkers and Lorna’s Laces sock yarn together, knitted in the right size for my feet, and they felt so great I promptly decided I would knit at least enough pairs so that I could wear them every day of the week if I wanted to. I reached this goal last fall, but of course, when you wear the socks so often it becomes awfully difficult to wrangle them all together for a group photo.

From left to right (and the order in which they were knitted), these colours are: Tahoe, Irving Park, Pilsen, Devon, Rockwell, Mixed Berries, and Jimmy’s Journey (limited edition from Jimmy Beans Wool, last summer).

(Incidentally, several people have asked me in the past about how to get the Lorna’s Laces not to pool weirdly on the foot. Dudes, if I knew, I would tell you. I have no freaking clue. Sometimes it pools in crazy wicked ways, sometimes not at all. It’s all part of the glamorous and exciting world of sock knitting.)

I have gathered up a modest stash of Lorna’s Laces shepherd sock in the process of reaching the week’s-worth goal, and there will definitely be more of these socks in my future. Unlike the 3×1 ribbed sock, which I would knit just about any time, I tend to save Jaywalkers for when I am travelling. The tedium of the 2-row repeat works just fantastically when I am waiting in airports or sitting on buses or trains, and I get through the sock a lot faster than when I bring them back to home turf, oddly enough. So I think I’ll slot in a pair of those for April when I will next be on the go, to DC.

It’s hard on the older pairs, I think, since they are not quite as pretty and new and shiny as the more recently knitted ones. But I try to reach for them all equally. It wouldn’t do to stir up resentment and jealousy within the sock drawer. In the mean time…I think I now need a second week’s worth of Jaywalkers. A reasonable conclusion, yes? I thought so.