Grand Central Station Socks

I really enjoyed knitting a pair of socks a month last year, especially when the weather turned chilly and I had a wonderful selection of toasty-warm socks ready to wear! In fact, with the extras (mostly Harry Potter-themed socks and gifts) I counted up 18 pairs of socks knit in 2007.

I'm lucky here in Northern California -- we get good sock-wearing weather for about 5 months. After that, it is bare feet and sandals all the time. Even so, 5 monthis is a respectable sock-wearing portion of the year, and I was most happy to be well-outfitted when November rolled around.

Anyway, I've decided to go for the monthly socks thing this year, as well. (Actually, my sock yarn stash could probably take me a lot further than that...) I find I really do enjoy knitting socks. They are lightweight, portable, packable, and easily picked up for a few stitches or a few rows. I usually have a couple of other projects going at the same time, but the socks fit nicely in my purse.

So. The January Socks. This yarn was a Christmas gift from Nancie Wiseman. She said she saw the yarn and "it had my name on it." (I need to find out who put that label on the yarn and thank them!) I think she meant the color. It is beautiful: mauves, greyed purples and pinks -- and it changes when the light changes.
I started the first sock just before I left on a business trip. I wanted to work with cables, so I jotted down a 66-stitch pattern that alternates 8-row 6-stitch cables with 5 seed stitches. As it turned out, our hotel in New York City was right next door to Grand Central Station. What a beautiful and awe-inspiring building it is! When I saw all the train tracks and all the people bustling about, I knew I had found the name for my socks.

The knitted-in marker is a lampwork glass bead with Swarovski crystals and gold metal spacers. I am happy to say that even with all the washing -- I wash my socks enclosed in a lingerie bag in the washing machine -- the markers have held up quite well. I have had a couple of them break, but I just replaced the stiff wire with knottable wire -- much better!

And -- I got a new camera for Christmas. It has a range of macro settings, so I am having fun experimenting with close-ups of my knitting. :)