Socktoberfest!

I'm too big a loser to load the Socktoberfest button, but here's the survey thing from Lolly Knitting Around (because I LOVE surveys!):

* 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 making socks when I was 16. I, being the all-knowing teen that I was, refused my mother's help, and learned out of a book. It worked, too.

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

I made my first pair out of Grignasco Top- Print Alpaca, in the dark red colorway for Chris's mom. I don't know how they've held up, you'll have to ask her.

* What would you have done differently?

Used something superwash, duh. Making hand-wash only socks is evil, and even worse if they're gifts. If I, as a knitter, refuse to hand-wash my socks, how could I have expected someone else to?

[Short anecdote: There was this awful woman at this knitting group I attended in college who was talking about knitting socks out of something that wasn't superwash. I said, "But they'll felt in the washer. Nobody hand washes their socks."

She puffed herself up and said, "I hand wash EVERYTHING that I knit."

Seriously, this woman never finished anything. I finish and wear too many hand knit socks to hand wash.]

* What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
Lisa Souza Sock! (and the merino she used a couple of years ago, I haven't tried her new one), Trekking, Regia, Tess Yarns Sock & Baby! , Socks that Rock (beware of knots!)

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

I usually do them on 2 circs b/c I bend the life out of my wooden double points. It's also easier for transport and I have a much lower occurrence of needle-loss. I'll still do them on DPNS, occasionally, but I'm a 95% 2 circs gal.

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

I fall in and out of love with heels. I started with the flap heel, and went through a 2 year period where all of the socks I had knit had short-rowed heels. I gave all of those away when I had to wear real shoes to work. (Real shoes= not clogs.) I like how the flap heel fits better in shoes, generally.

• How many pairs have you made?

Lots. Andrew has a drawer full, I have a drawer full, and I gave a drawer full away over the last year. My socks are EVERYWHERE.

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