52 Pair Challenge

I don’t know what makes me think I can do this if I can’t even write an entry every day for a month, but I’ve taken up the 52 Pair Challenge.  As of the new year, I’m going to have to make 52 pairs of socks.  Yes, that’s a pair every week.  That means I have to stay motivated, focused, and buy a lot of sock yarn.  Now I just need to decide if the new year means the calendar new year starting on January 1st, or my personal New Year starting on December 21st, Yule.  Personally, I think the calendar new year would probably be easier because that gives me all of 2009 instead of 2009…oh, and one week in 2008.  I know, silly thing to dispute over, but it helps me to figure out a starting date so that, well, I can start and keep a goal in mind.

So 52 pairs of socks in a year.  That’s a lot of socks.  That’s 13 pairs of socks for everyone in my family, if you count Caelan.  That would mean the three of us get 17 pairs of socks each leaving one pair for Caelan that I’ve already bought the yarn for.  That means I could get 52 pairs of socks all to myself.  That’s a lot of socks.  Who really needs that many pairs of hand-knit socks?

Well, I’ve done some thinking.  Hand knit socks tend to last longer than store bought socks.  The fit is often better.  The quality is significantly higher.  I can buy higher grade sock yarn and end up with a quality sock that will last me quite a long time, will be warm, and will be something I can be proud of myself for.  Corde will probably love being able to pick out her own colors for her own socks.  This could be a lot of fun.

Of course, kids grow, so perhaps making socks for the kids will be a futile effort.  Perhaps I’ll find myself engaging in this challenge year after year just to keep socks on their feet!  Their feet are small enough right now that the yarn would make far more pairs of socks and though they would be quickly outgrown, they are also quick enough to make.  I could spend the summer knitting up all the socks for that winter.  It would be a nice rhythm to get into.

This all started with the idea of focusing on one aspect of my craft for an entire year.  This came from the Knit Picks podcast where Kelley Petkun was talking about her goal to spend one year with the Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman.  She was going to spend one year working on each of those projects, learning what she could from them.  While I’m not taking on anything near so ambitious.  I’ve taken a look at that Pie shawl!  That month’s project alone is an undertaking!  I am taking on something that is a challenge.  I need to stay focused enough to knit 52 pairs of socks in one year.  I’m not going to focus on a pair each week because some will take longer and some will be much shorter.  However, I am going to be sure I do 52 different pairs of socks in that time.  Each pair will be different, not to keep me from being bored, but so that I can learn a little bit of something from each pattern I do.  Perhaps it will be a new technique.  Perhaps it will be a challenging stitch pattern.  Maybe I’ll just be learning how to string different lace patterns together, learning them so some day I can create my own beautiful socks without the need of a pattern.  Whatever I get from it, I want to make sure I’m learning and expanding my capabilities.  A good part of the reason for this is to become more intimately aware of the exact focus you happen to be keeping.

The real reason I want to dedicate to something this big is to work on my focus.  If I can do this, then what else can I do?  I’m trying to prove that I can keep focused and dedicated to a path for an entire year.  I’m trying to prove that I can focus for that long, and stay focused.  This will be the longest undertaking I’ve faced yet.  If I can manage this, I can manage anything.

What comes after this?  I’ll have plenty of socks, so perhaps I’ll take on a different aspect of the art.  Maybe I’ll spend a year doing one lace shawl every month.  Maybe I’ll focus on challenging afghans.  Perhaps I’ll try my hand at making sweaters.  While I feel that most of the patterns in the Knitter’s Almanac aren’t projects I would use, like leggings for a baby, a baby layette set, a knit polo shirt, a quick knit sweater that is nothing I would ever likely wear, I think I can use the concept.  In the case of the Knitter’s Almanac, a lot of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s projects are outdated.  They are things that don’t meet today’s fashion ideals.  While I’m not a completely fashion forward kind of girl, I’d like to stay with the times at least a little bit and stay away from knitting things that will simply never be used in my household.  However, I can take the projects she puts forth and find a similar project to focus on for a month.  Yes, I would still do the pie shawl.  It may not be practical, but I really do love shawls.

Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Almanac focuses on the practicality of knitting.  Some of the projects make sense for the season, some don’t.  Some won’t make sense until you figure why she’s focusing on that project then instead of at a later time.  However, I’m going to toss out all the projects that she does, just so you can get a feel for it, and how I would modify it to modernize the experience.

The January project is a traditional aran sweater.  For those of you who don’t know knitting, think cables.  While it’s a little outdated, it’s a nice enough project.  It’s a men’s sweater, but if I couldn’t find a man to wear it, well, I would.  it’s got instructions to convert it to a cardigan, and would include a skill I’ve never confronted before, steeking.  For those of you that don’t know knitting, that means cutting that fabric you worked oh so hard to knit.  Then you attach the sleeves, put on the neck, or put on the button band for a cardigan.  It looks like a challenging project for me as I’ve never knit an adult sized sweater before.  Oh, yes, there’s also a hat that goes with it…not bad.  It looks warm enough to wear as a jacket and hat set for when the weather starts to warm up.  Perhaps that’s the thinking behind it, to be prepared for when it’s sweater weather again.

February’s project is baby things.  There’s a baby sweater, leggings, shawl, and a double knit blanket or changing pad.  While that’s a nice project and all, it’s very girlie, so I can’t even convert it to a toddler set for Aris.  Perhaps if I do this in the future, I’ll have a friend expecting a baby girl, or maybe I can choose similar projects that would work for Aris or a friend’s baby.

March is the chainmail sweater.  Let me tell you, I hate the look of that sweater, however, it’s working with traveling stitches and the like, something I’ve never worked with.  Perhaps if I do

it in muted enough colors, it won’t look quite so…well…out of date?  There’s a woman that made it into a vest on Ravelry and it looks pretty good.  I’m sure I could find a way to modernize it so it won’t be quite so…yeah…

April is the mystery blanket.  While I’m not a huge fan of the style of it, I’m all for blankets, and for using different techniques.  Why you’re knitting a blanket in April?  I have no idea.  Perhaps if I read the book, I’ll find out.  However, the mystery blanket looks like it’s made up of knitted squares that have started out in circular knitting somehow, then sewn together.  However, they’re not sewn together.  They’re woven!  How cool is that?  It could prove to teach me interesting new techniques.  That’s what it’s all about, right?

May is mitten month!  They have a pair of mitered mittens that I’m not so sure about, but the Norwegian mittens are beautiful!  They include colorwork and have a snowflake pattern on the back.  They are absolutely stunning, even if they’re not my style.  I’m sure I could find other mitten patterns to throw in this month.  Why mittens in May?  Well, come the cold months, you’ll already have a stack of mittens ready to go instead of scrambling to get them done last minute with an early cold spell.  With the rate at which kids lose mittens, it might be something of a plan to make them two pairs in May each year so that I’ll be ready for the winter.  Perhaps she’s on to something with this one.  Of course, here it’s not much needed as it doesn’t get that cold, but we may not always live in super hot Texas.

June is hats.  There’s two different hats that I may make once for the techniques, but I really don’t like them.  The ganome three corner hat just looks silly in my opinion, but might be something Corde would play with.  The Maltese fisherman’s hat is really interesting, but I would never wear it.  Perhaps I could make that for the kids for dress up too.  With the style of it, they would probably come up with tons of uses.  It looks kind of like something you expect a Chinese emperor to wear.  However, I think making your hats in June so they’ll be ready for winter isn’t a bad idea either.  I’m certainly learning that now with making the hat I plan to wear back home just 33 days before my trip!  And I wanted to have two hats and a scarf ready!  What was I thinking?  I might take that to heart and make a few hats for the kids in June every year.  That’s a great take-along project, as are mittens, but much more useful in Texas.

July’s project is the coveted pie shawl!  It’s a pretty, flower like, circular lace shawl.  I’m not quite sure what I would do with a lace shawl.  Perhaps I would put the table back to it’s round configuration and use it as a table cloth, or perhaps find a nice round end table or something to drape it over.  I could never quite figure out the configuration of wearing a circular shawl, but I still want to make it.  It’s just so beautiful!  And lace!  This is something I want to add to my list whether or not I ever do Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Almanac.  Why a lace shawl in July, I don’t know.  Maybe it’s light enough not to be hot in your lap?  We’ll see when some day I pick up the book.

For August, "Christmas Fiddle Faddle" has been chosen.  I first heard that name and thought "What on earth could that mean?  And what is fiddle faddle anyway?"  So I hopped online as I’m known to do and looked up the pattern.  It’s Christmas ornaments!  Good idea for August if you plan to decorate your whole tree with them.  Talk about planning ahead.  I may have to do some of these…just because.  Why not?

In September you’re knitting long underwear, "nether garmets".  There’s instructions for turning them into tights.  While I may not have much use for tights, this would be an incredible pattern for Miss Corde.  She loves wearing skirts and in the winter will need something more than bare legs to keep her warm.  As much as it’s not terribly cold here during the day, it gets absolutely brutal at night!  Good idea.  Good project.  Needs be on the list…

October has an open collar pull over.  My original introduction to this project was as a polo or golf shirt, completely not useful for any of my purposes.  However, looking at the Ravelry page, it’s got different options so you can use it as just an open collar sweater or put some toggles on to close it off.  In other words, there are options.  It’s a cute enough project that should I decide I want to do it, I may have to see if I can knit it small enough to fit Aris.  It really does strike me more as a men’s/boy’s style.

November is sock month.  It seems rather arbitrary to me, but what can you do?  They have a pattern for Moccasin socks.  They’re socks that you can remove the sole from and replace it.  It’s a novel concept and I’ll certainly try it, but I think I’d rather have regular socks.  However, I’ll certainly give it a try.  November being sock month, my how that fits with my current challenge!

Then in December there’s the "Hurry-Up Last Minute Sweater" for all your last-minute gifting needs.  While I don’t know anyone who would actually wear a sweater like that, I could easily substitute it.  Or I could knit a tiny version to put on Aris’s teddy bear friend, Toby.  Can’t have Toby freezing in these winter months!

So for those of you who don’t knit, this is probably a boring (or perhaps enlightening if you’re that sort of person) entry for you.  I know my focus is on knitting, but I’ve got to focus on something right now.  No, I need to focus on something right now that’s not including relationships, people back home, where I’m going to live, what I’m going to do with my life, and all of that!  I need something productive in my life.  And who knows, maybe I’ll find some way to turn this into something money saving, or even profitable!

For now, take care, and I hope you didn’t mind my dive into the world of knitting.  I’m going to dive back into my podcasts with some more CraftLit and some more of Jane Austin’s pride and Prejudice.  I really can’t wait!

~*~Rave~*~