I’ve been working on the recreation of slipper socks for a friend of the family for a while now. Last February, Granny mentioned a friend who knew how to crochet, but not knit. He needed a new pair of slippers as the current ones were full of holes. The yarn was quite fine and the stitches quite small. In order to match those, I had to knit the first one on US size 1 (2.25mm thick). Between the first and second slipper sock, I must have relaxed a bit to the point of needing to use US size 000 (1.5mm thick). I have to say, I probably would not make another pair exactly like this. I used yarn a bit to thick for the size needles, hoping to add warmth to the finished product. I certainly accomplished that goal, at the expense to ease. It proved to be a bit difficult to join it all together. Usually, socks are knitting by turning a heel and decreasing the toe. The slippers I duplicated called for square toes and heels. I couldn’t in good conscience knit square toes, they aren’t comfortable. The square heel wasn’t much of a factor in the original pair because they were too short and the heel was pulled under the foot. To do again, I would turn the heel so that it was nice and round. In an effort to finish these up I have been knitting ’round the clock for the past week or so. If I were less tired, I would do some math and figure out how many stitches in the socks, I would conservatively say that there are tens of thousands of stitches in these slippers. I hold firmly to my assumption that the original pair was made on a sock knitting machine.
This weekend we went to a family friend’s farm for a potluck and apple cider pressing. Bring apples, go home with cider. I sat on the porch and happily knit away, plopping the yarn into my high tech knitting bag (my purse) and walking around when circumstances dictated. I had many, many conversations with people about knitting and crocheting. I chatted with an older woman who had a very thick German accent about yarn crafts. She thought she would never be able to do it after losing the tips of her left hand to frostbite. I told her about knitting belts, though I don’t think she will knit. I talked with another woman who crochets a lot, she taught herself to crochet when she was 13, she’s in her mid-twenties. I even talked with several men, a few of whom used the words patience and can’t/couldn’t. I stopped them mid-word and let them know that with the correct project, knitting teaches patience and that knitting does not require patience. I don’t know if there will be any new knitters but I had fun talking with and listening to others about knitting.
Just to round out the knitting stories, I’ll share one more. Yesterday, I went to down to pick up a few things and browse yarn for my Christmas Elf project. One of the stores in our area is discontinuing the sales of some of the yarns. I had a lovely conversation with a woman purchasing yarn for her daughter to crochet about yarn thickness, how to read the label to discover the weight (thickness) and fiber content. The yarn she chose was wool and I wanted to be sure that her daughter expected to knit with wool. I later found the yarn she chose set down in another are, so into my basket it went. Clearance wool is difficult for me to resist. I didn’t find yarn for my Christmas Elf project, but I found some in my stash when I returned home. I don’t have enough to complete the project, but I have enough to practice a few things.
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An apple cider pressing party sounds like fun! And lots of knitting too!
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