Socktoberfest - Squeaking in under the wire!

Well, since Lolly’s Sockoberfest questionnaire was what finally pulled me out of the shadows of lurkerdom and tempted me to try this blogging thing, I guess that I should actually answer the questions before the month is over!

Here goes:

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I started knitting socks about five years ago. When I was growing up, one of our family traditions was to hang our stockings on the mantle on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, they were always filled with small gifts and candy and were emptied / opened as a family activity before any other gifts. My great-Aunt first knit these stockings for my Mom and her siblings when they were children, then knit new stockings as each of them got married and had children of their own. When my brother married and started having kids, I wanted to pass the tradition on. Thus began the quest for sock knowledge and the "right" pattern - a story all on its own…

I signed up for a sock class at my LYS, talked my friend into taking it with me, and was off and running.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first "pair" was a while in coming. I made a mini sock in the class I took, then leaped right into making Christmas stockings. The next actual sock I made was a magic loop sock (another class), but was done in worsted weight yarn – not my thing at all.

I kept running across gorgeous cabled and lace designs and finally decided to give it another try when I stumbled on the two circulars method. I picked up a copy of Cat Bordhi’s book and started at the beginning, with her simple ribbed sock pattern. For a first attempt, these socks have held up pretty well, though I don’t wear them nearly as often as some of my later attempts.

What would you have done differently?

Although I was at gauge with the #2 needles I used, I wish that I had used a smaller needle and fewer stitches when knitting my first pair of socks. I learned pretty quickly that I like a firmer / tighter fabric under my feet and a tighter rib than I ended up with. (As a somewhat tight knitter, this almost never happens to me!)

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

Favorites include Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Socks that Rock and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. I have "a few" skeins (okay, okay, a bin) of different yarns queued up to try yet. A couple that I am excited about are a ball of Trekking, which will become Cat Bordhi’s "Flow Motion Socks" and a lovely skein of Schaefer Anne which is earmarked to make Nancy Bush’s "Traveler’s Socks" (both in the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting).

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

My crocheting ability is pretty limited, so that’s not really an option. So far, my favorite method is 2 circulars, though I haven’t tried working with short (5"or less) DPNs yet.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

Flap. I have done short-row heels, but don’t think that they will hold up as well as the flap heels.
How many pairs have you made?

Nine, plus four Christmas stockings.