Second Sock... Speed-Up?

There are many knitting myths to which I do not subscribe. The most predominant has got to be the greatly bemoaned "Second Sock Syndrome."

While a cute name and oft-sympathized malady, I find my behavior to be exactly the opposite of that described by the lethargy which sets in upon completion of the first sock, especially the supposed reluctance to cast on and then complete the second sock of the pair.

Instead, the closer I get to finishing the first sock, the more antsy I am to cast on the second. Once I have worked out the amount of pattern repeats for the foot, the stitches on the heel, and the length of the leg, I cannot wait to breeze through the second sock on an autopilot-like level of gleeful enjoyment.

I'm calling it the Second Sock Speed-Up, and I will champion its cause. All the drudgery and monotony of the first sock is removed by being half-finished with the pair. Each stitch toward the second sock is faster and ultimately easier because you've done it before and there are no surprises or confusing bits left, just smooth sailing.

Which is to say... stay tuned. I have something nice to show you.

Orange Socks

Though I have many other things to show and talk about, most of my knitting is still packed in boxes from the move. I did manage to fish out some orange yarn and my size 2 DPNs to start the September Sock Knitters Anonymous Sockdown orange socks challenge.



I had planned to use this yarn for a pair of Snicket socks (Ravelry link), but I could not figure out how to do the cables without a cable needle and I was feeling tremendously impatient. I searched around Ravelry for a simpler sock that would be knit over 60 stitches and found the lovely Bella Catena Italiana pattern (here on Ravelry).



The name means "Beautiful Italian Chain" and it is knit in an Italian virgin wool, so it seems fitting upon a return from Italy. These socks are moving pretty quickly and I think I may just finish a Sockdown challenge in one month this time.

(On a technical note, I am having some mystifying issues between Blogger and the FTP upload to my server. When I look at this site, I'm seeing a post that I've deleted in Blogger, as well as physically deleted from my server... yet I can't get it to go away, hence the duplication. It's also doing flukey things with comments.

If this blog goes silent for a while, please check my sidebar or Blogger profile for notes on what's going on.)

Back to a new home

I wanted to drop in quickly and say I am back from Italy (it was AMAZING) and coping fairly well with having moved to a different state, having everything we own still mostly in boxes, and now enjoying a commute that is about 2.5 hours each way.

I would be lying if I pretended I didn't secretly relish the train time, as I'm envisioning piles and piles of knitting getting done, but it is worrying for the rest of my life.

The chill in the air is inspiring beyond belief - I am nuts about fall, and it seems I'm not at all alone in that. I will post an FO and some new WIPs soon, whenever I get to the "knitting stuff" strata of Ye Olde Box Mountain.