Dog Days

Stephanie wrote:

With the dog days upon us it didn't take much to convince to me escape to the beach for a few days. It was hard to think of hitting the road again so soon after returning from Sock Summit, but once there I was glad we had make the trek.

I had completed my last pair of socks on the plane from Portland and had to start a new pair. I wanted something simple but not as mindless as plain stockinette.

While my knitting queue is overflowing with sock patterns to knit, I didn't even look at it. Instead I turned to my sock knitting books. My collection of sock knitting books is quite large - more than most libraries have. After leafing through several of them I grabbed Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.

Not only does this book contain a wide assortment of patterns, it also has a section on the history of sock knitting and the importance of Weldon's Practical Needlework. Weldon's was a leaflet published in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was devoted to many forms of needlework including knitting. Nancy took several sock patterns from Weldon's and reinterpreted them for today's knitter.

I debated which pattern to knit and finally settled on this.

The Oak Ribbed Sock - a simple ribbed pattern with just enough variety to keep me interested.

The yarn is Luster Sox Medium Denim. Luster Sox is 100% Bluefaced Leicester, a fiber that has been getting more attention (if you don't want to read the whole report, scroll down to the paragraph next to the orange skein). I always enjoy working with this yarn - nice twist, great stitch definition, interesting color variation.

This sock accompanied me during our days at the beach. The five minute walk to the beach was colorful.

Hydrangea.

Rocks. The three smallest rocks look like claws peeking out from beneath the largest rock.

Sand and water, of course.

And a splash of bright color.

I came back from the beach refreshed, full of ideas for new projects and eager for the first crisp days of fall.