Accomplishing!
It may not come as a huge surprise to anyone that I have a healthy assortment of sock pattern books and a respectable stash of sock yarn. I've been working on a big project with organizing them, so I thought I'd mention it.
See, it goes like this - I'll buy yarn because I find some that is SO gorgeous, I just Have To Have It. Those tend to be very saturated, jewel-tone kind of colors. And I buy books because they have patterns that inspire me. Those patterns tend to be very textured and a bit challenging. See the problem yet?
Say I get in a Knitting Mood. I can spend an evening or two just browsing the books trying to decide which one to make. And then picking the right yarn for it - there are so many choices to make that I can get kind of paralysed by the decision. (I know, some non-knitter who wandered into this post is now shaking their head in confusion. Who cares? We sock-knitters do. Resistance is Futile. You will be Assimilated. Trust me. The goodness that is hand-knitted socks is highly addictive. Don't tell The Gov'ment. They'll start a "Just Say No" campaign.)
Anyway, inspired by the neatness of a pre-selected kit from the Sock Club, I decided to match my stash. I got out all my sock yarn and my patterns, and I figured out what would work best with what. I've wound my skeins into balls and copied my patterns, and now I have a good shopping bag full of little packaged kits, each with the yarn and a copy of the pattern, labelled and everything. For the record, a quart-sized ziploc bag is Just Right for a pair-worth of sock yarn and a few pages. It's a tight fit, but somehow that only makes it better. And they have those nice little label spaces to write in the pattern and yarn name. So now, when I finish up a project and need something fun to knit, I can just grab a bag and some needles and I'm ready to go.
One thing I learned from all this is that my taste in yarn and patterns don't necessarily work well together. Remember I said I lean toward saturated jewel tones and heavily textured patterns? Well, those things are not the best pairing. The patterns get lost in colors that are too dark or too bright. And a lot of texture detracts somehow from appreciating the pretty colors. During the Great Match-up, I found that I had to compromise a good bit to make good kits, and I need to expand my horizons a bit. I'm developing a better appreciation for more muted colors. I even bought some yarn specifically with that in mind, in colors I would normally never choose. They'll make beautiful socks, though.
Politically-Charged Song Quote of the Day:
Raise your hands high. Don't take a seat, don't stand aside. This time, don't assume anything. Just go...
Did they tell you it was set in stone, that you'd end up alone? Use your years to psych you out - You're too old to care, you're too young to count.
Did they tell you you would come undone, when you try to touch the sun? Undermine the underground - You're too old to care, you're too young to count.
(from "Go", Amy Ray)
See, it goes like this - I'll buy yarn because I find some that is SO gorgeous, I just Have To Have It. Those tend to be very saturated, jewel-tone kind of colors. And I buy books because they have patterns that inspire me. Those patterns tend to be very textured and a bit challenging. See the problem yet?
Say I get in a Knitting Mood. I can spend an evening or two just browsing the books trying to decide which one to make. And then picking the right yarn for it - there are so many choices to make that I can get kind of paralysed by the decision. (I know, some non-knitter who wandered into this post is now shaking their head in confusion. Who cares? We sock-knitters do. Resistance is Futile. You will be Assimilated. Trust me. The goodness that is hand-knitted socks is highly addictive. Don't tell The Gov'ment. They'll start a "Just Say No" campaign.)
Anyway, inspired by the neatness of a pre-selected kit from the Sock Club, I decided to match my stash. I got out all my sock yarn and my patterns, and I figured out what would work best with what. I've wound my skeins into balls and copied my patterns, and now I have a good shopping bag full of little packaged kits, each with the yarn and a copy of the pattern, labelled and everything. For the record, a quart-sized ziploc bag is Just Right for a pair-worth of sock yarn and a few pages. It's a tight fit, but somehow that only makes it better. And they have those nice little label spaces to write in the pattern and yarn name. So now, when I finish up a project and need something fun to knit, I can just grab a bag and some needles and I'm ready to go.
One thing I learned from all this is that my taste in yarn and patterns don't necessarily work well together. Remember I said I lean toward saturated jewel tones and heavily textured patterns? Well, those things are not the best pairing. The patterns get lost in colors that are too dark or too bright. And a lot of texture detracts somehow from appreciating the pretty colors. During the Great Match-up, I found that I had to compromise a good bit to make good kits, and I need to expand my horizons a bit. I'm developing a better appreciation for more muted colors. I even bought some yarn specifically with that in mind, in colors I would normally never choose. They'll make beautiful socks, though.
Politically-Charged Song Quote of the Day:
Raise your hands high. Don't take a seat, don't stand aside. This time, don't assume anything. Just go...
Did they tell you it was set in stone, that you'd end up alone? Use your years to psych you out - You're too old to care, you're too young to count.
Did they tell you you would come undone, when you try to touch the sun? Undermine the underground - You're too old to care, you're too young to count.
(from "Go", Amy Ray)