Sarah
Would you rather hear bad news or good news first? Personally I'm more of a bad-news-first girl. The good news that follows usually ameliorates the concern the bad news brings up, and if you get the good news first the bad news can really dash your hopes. So, bad news first: my friend Ingrid is moving away. I knew they've been planning a move for a while, so I wasn't totally unprepared, but it's still sad. Measure and Gwynnie are just getting to the stage where they are interested in interacting with another baby, so it's sad they won't be able to get together anymore. I'm holding out hope that in a few years Ingrid and her family will move back to California, but even if that doesn't happen Jason and I are already talking about visiting them as part of our next summer's vacation.
The good news is, I finished these socks, and they are going to be a sort of goodbye-gift to Ingrid. They seem very Ingrid-ey and she has already seen them and approves. I'll be giving them to her today. Hmm, nope, I guess the good news in this case doesn't really do much to soften the bad news, does it? I guess I'm just glad that I managed to complete the socks before she moves.
These socks have been part of a gift-making trend of late -- the yarn I spun, the cashmere socks I knit, the Monkeys (well, the Monkey -- I haven't cast on for the second one yet), and the baby blanket I knit for my neighbor. She had the baby, by the way: he's a cute little munchkin, and when they brought him over, Measure just stared at him. Measure looked like a giant compared the the newbie, it's amazing to realize that in four months, he has already more than doubled in size.
Anyway, I need your help: I want to knit some really nice socks for my brother, who likes to go up to Tahoe for snowboarding. I know he wears special socks for that, but I wanted to knit him some nice ones to wear around the house when he's up there -- or, come to think of it, even when he's at home, since it can get pretty cold in San Francisco as well. I don't know whether I want to knit from a pattern or design my own, but either way, I'm looking for inspiration. So far, the only thing I've come across that interested me was the two-yarn resoleable socks in the Interweave "Favorite Socks" book, but while those would be interesting for me to knit, they may be a little boring to look at. Maybe that's a good thing for a guy's sock, I don't know. Any suggestions?
When it comes to clothing, if it's plain, grey, and boring, men love it. In my experience, this holds true for men of every age, profession, and even sexual orientation. I think it's a Y-chromosome thing, and it's why I don't like knitting for men. My way of dealing with this is to pick a yarn with a really great feel, so that I can at least enjoy the pleasure of texture. Maybe something with cashmere or silk or both?
Posted by: Suzanne V. (Yarnhog) | September 11, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Fari isle socks. Definitely. If you have the stomach for it. Otherwise, why not put some embroidery on the top of the sock. Like "My bro rawks" or something. Otherwise, grey socks with cables. That's what my hubby said when I asked....
Posted by: Carol | September 11, 2007 at 04:15 PM