Back before I learned how to knit in high school, I never would have pictured my life would come to this. I never thought I would put so much time, and effort into knitting socks. Certainly never thought I’d be so interested in sock-pattern architecture, (sockitecture?) and construction. Never thought I’d choose to spend a Saturday night knitting on a very intricate sock, and never thought I would consider a sock to be intricate. I’ve turned into a serious nerd. Enter Ann Budd, and New Directions in Sock Knitting.
“In this book, you’ll find an array of socks that deviate from a little to a lot from the traditional top-down or toe-up construction.” Taken from the introduction written by Ann, which I think sums the book up perfectly. Before I got this book I had only ever considered socks that were knit from the toe-up, or top-down, but this book opens your eyes to a magnificent variety of construction and pattern. To be fair, the first two sections use the traditional methods, but the patterns are detailed and distinctive. For instance, the very first pattern called Mirror Socks by Kate Atherley, who is also currently Knitty’s techical editor, and are double-knit, alternating yarns and stitches so that both socks are knit at the very same time, one inside the other so when you are finished, you pull one sock out of the other and have a completed pair. To be honest, I haven’t tried double-knitting yet, but this would be an excellent place to start. I’m currently knitting a pair of Crossfade by Marjan Hammink otherwise known as Yarnissima. High-schooler me would have never considered a knitter to be famous, either. Even if only in certain yarny circles.
The yarn is a bit busy for the pattern (the book uses a mostly-solid tonal yarn), but I saw the gorgeous, twining cables and knew I wanted them in a warm, sunset-ish gold-to-brown variegated. They start from the toe up, and are so addictive I spent the majority of last Saturday knitting on them. There is something about patterns where every row is different that hooks you. You can’t wait to see where each new cable row will take you, and you have to really summon some willpower to take a break. After those sections are where things start to get really innovative.
For instance, there are socks started from the back of the leg, others at the instep and knit outwards, and others started at the sole of the foot. New Directions is also where I first heard about standards like the Fleegle heel pattern by Susan Glinert Stevens, which is a blend of short row and heel flap construction, and the Sweet Tomato heel by Cat Bordhi, who also provides the Enduring Stripes pattern that showcases a heel that is knit in wedges for a clean look. Here’s a fascinating article I found on Alpaca Direct’s website about heel construction. Again with the things I never thought I’d think about, finding a comparison on sock heel construction informative is a big one.
To me, this book is a instant classic, and a valuable addition to any fiber library. I’ll let you all know when my Crossfades are done. Right now the other sock is barely more than a heel (my day job does get in the way, but without it there would be no money to buy more books to write new posts, and yarn to knit new socks).
Check out New Directions in Sock Knitting on Amazon here...