A Tale of Birthday Socks
Michael's birthday is December 30th, immediately after the Christmas Sweat Shop closes for the season. When I'm feeling particularly organized and on top of things (read:never), I start his socks right along with the Christmas knitting so everything gets done.
I started 3 pairs of socks for his birthday this year. The first pair were green because I like that color on him and always associate it with him. I knit the first sock, and put it on to see how it looked, and immediately realized that even though I knit it, and looked at the pattern the entire time, and watched it work up, I ignored the obvious fact that it was WAY TOO FEMININE for a man.
That sock went on the WIP shelf, where it still sits.
Next I decided to make a standard recipe sock on some Indulgence that I had in the stash. I thought it might be fun to make these sort of Jekyll & Hyde and not worry about how the stripes worked up and not even attempt to match them on the second sock.
I anticipated some sort of Type-A meltdown over this, but I actually LOVE THEM. So...
...they're mine now. And I'm not sorry.
At this point in the Tale of Birthday Socks, there have been a total of 3 socks knit, and 0 for birthdays. I was at risk of losing this battle. It was time to buckle down and get it done.
I dove into the stash for the third time and came back with this. I've had it for probably a decade but never really liked it, to be honest. See those blue specks? I don't like yarn that makes specks. It feels messy to me. It does not feel messy to Michael.
I chose a simple broken rib pattern. Very easy, but still not just my standard recipe. These were finished on time, and boxed, wrapped, opened, and promptly worn.
5 socks completed. 4 socks worn. Not a bad ending.