Winter is Coming....

I know what you are thinking at this very moment..."summer hasn't even begun yet and she's talking about winter". Does that about cover it? I thought so. No, I am not crazy and believe me when I say I am not trying to invite an early winter by any means. In fact the thought of an icy chill in the air and scraping frost from my windshield makes me cringe. Winter does have a few perks, though (few being the key word here). I love warm fires, hot cocoa, cozy sweaters and socks. These things make winter almost bearable! So with that in mind, my crafty and sensible side is buzzing. I need to prepare (I swear I am part squirrel or something). I have two boys on the cusp of puberty, who are growing faster than any weed in my garden could ever hope to. While I am loving seeing them transform into young men, well the part of me that doesn't miss the little chubby baby cheeks, these two are killing me in the clothing and food department.  When I was pregnant with my youngest and found out we were expecting another boy, I had dreams of budget friendly hand-me-downs and and little boy shenanigans. I got the shenanigans alright! Budget friendly hand-me-downs are a whole different story I'm afraid. My youngest is two years younger than his brother, but that doesn't seem to matter much because he wears the same size clothes and shoes as his older brother (much to my oldest son's dismay). So it's two of everything and that is just the way it is. I feel for all you mom's with multiple's out there! I know I can not even compare to your situation, except for maybe the clothing department.

So what exactly am I working on? Remember I listed a few upside to the winter season...well I love cozy socks and they are an absolute necessity to keep our toes protected from that chilly air. So I am knitting a pair of socks for my youngest son. Now, knitting a pair of socks may not seem all that cost effective at first. I get it, the wool itself can cost up to $30 or more and you only get one pair. I know you can run down to the store and buy at least 3 packs of socks for that price, right? So why in the world would I knit a pair? I have a 3 reasons:

1. I love to knit
2. The quality of the socks I knit by hand far outweigh the ones I buy commercially
3. wool is warmer than cotton and I can customize it to my needs

Now that we have got that all cleared up, let's talk about the materials. I bought a hank of yarn off of ebay ages ago. It is a super wash wool blend that has been hand dyed in black and green. It is a total of 400 yards, which means I can probably get at least 4 pairs of socks out of it depending on the length I choose to knit. This isn't bad considering I paid $20 (including shipping)! I am using a  short row toe up sock pattern that is free on Ravelry, it's very simple and plain so you can jazz it up or knit as is. I like the pattern, but if you are new to knitting short rows, I would definitely recommend watching a few you tube videos on the subject as the pattern doesn't really explain short rows. I really liked this video and thought it really explained the process well, plus I am a visual learner. I like using short rows in sock knitting because it is seamless, which makes the sock more comfortable to wear. I imagine my son wearing these socks with his snow boots as he stomps through the powder white snow that blankets everything. These are blissful Norman Rockwell style visions, I'm sure the reality will be somewhat similar but will include the muddy stinky socks that will end up on the floor and eventually in my laundry pile. Either way, they were made with love!