Socktoberfest Meme - K

Lolly's Socktoberfest week 1 meme ...

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

I used the Wendy's generic toe up sock pattern as well as the sock article by Wendy in Knitty.

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

Knit in Trekking, actually. They have held up very well. They were knit somewhat loosely (size 3 dpns), so I'm kind of surprised. I'll never forget finishing the first sock while on vacation with a non-knitting friend (I know, crazy) and she looked at it, sort of surprised and said "It looks like a real sock!" I think she was skeptical while she was watching me ...

What would you have done differently?

I probably would have used different yarn. I'm not a huge fan of the faux fair isle/jacquard look, but somehow convinced myself that this yarn wasn't even trying to do that -- that it was just going for a mottled gray. I may have been deceived.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

Lorna's Laces. This yarn has worn very well and I love that I can just throw these in the laundry without worrying about them. Also, I admit it! I have a fairly large stash of Lorna's Laces that I haven't knit because I think it's too good. I think I'm also afraid it will pool horribly and I will no longer think it is too good.

I also love Cherry Tree Hill and Koigu as well as Socks that Rock. I still need to actually knit up some of my Fleece Artist and my Shelridge Farm (again, too good). The Regia I used for my Olympics gloves wasn't half bad either. Ok, I admit it, I'm a total sock yarn ho.

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

Are you ready for the craziness? I think my favorite is 12" addis for stockinette. You just keep knitting and knitting. No magic loop, no dpns everywhere, just keep on knitting. Luckily I have large feet so my socks can stretch enough as I'm knitting them for this to work. I need to buy a new size 1.5 or whatever it is; I can't find mine.

But in general I use dpns, and I like those quite a bit too. Cookie turned me on to the 6 inch Inox dpns. Good stuff.

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

Enh, whatever.

How many pairs have you made?

I wrote it out and it looks like 11 pairs. 2 were gifted away and the rest are mine, all mine!!!