Socks of Madness

I have a friend, J. J is a prolific sock knitter, and makes socks for all her family and friends and co-workers and those in need. One year, as a Christmas gift for me, she knitted a pair of socks for Norman. Yes, she gave me socks to give to my husband so I don't have to feel guilty about not knitting socks for him.

She's recently discovered something: that Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn is thicker (and warmer) than your typical sock yarn. And so Noro Silk Garden socks are not only a better gift for this miserable winter we've been having, but they're also quicker to knit.

Her rate of production has increased noticeably.

Now the other thing about J. is that because she often gifts her socks to non-knitters, she likes them to match.

I'll pause here. If you've ever used a Noro yarn of any kind, you'll know that the word "match" doesn't really apply. I adore these yarns, but the colour changes are random and unpredictable.

It's hard to make them match. Indeed, the runs of colour are long enough that I'm not even sure you can be guaranteed to get a matched pair out of a single ball, even with editing.

But my friend J., in addition to being amazingly generous and kind, is very persistent and very patient.

She's been making her Noro socks match. Sometimes, it's required two balls of the yarn.

I know, right?

As a result, she's been left with lots of bits. Small balls of colours she's edited out of the skeins.

When I  realized what she was doing, I shamelessly asked her for the leftovers.

From this...

Heck, it's free Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn. I lurrrve this stuff. You would have done the same. (I figure it's the knitting equivalent of licking the cake batter off the spatula. Don't want to waste a bit!)

So I'm making Noro Socks of Madness in the totally opposite direction.

Random two-round stripes of all those leftovers, totally unmatched. I mean, ok, the heel/cuff/toe of each sock is worked from the same colourway, but otherwise I'm just letting the colours fall where they may.

to this!

They're fun and warm and comfy and wonderful. And did I mention the yarn was free?

There is one small draw-back to this approach, however...

But even the epic weaving-of-ends will not deter me... I've already gathered enough for a second pair.