Sock Knitting
Hello friends,
Well, as you can see in this picture, I was not able to knit the whole sock this weekend. And I had such high hopes!
I went out of town this weekend and happily packed my sock in my bag, confident that the road trip would give me all the time I needed to meet my goal. Moments into the ride, however, I broke a needle and had to stop knitting. boo.
I think socks are great projects to work on when I am traveling because the are so small and portable, but I cannot figure out how to stop breaking needles in my bag! I’ve tried wooden ones: they actually broke before I even cast on!, I’ve tried bamboo: they are my favorites, but also break. I though metal needles would redeem me, but their too sharp points hurt my fingertips. These latest casualties were plastic, and I thought surely they would be strong enough to endure one small trip. Do you have any tips for me? Please leave them in the comments.
Maybe I should stop carrying bricks and rocks around in my bag…
Although these are called Seafarer’s Socks, we actually distribute them to both seafarers and inland mariners. They are a very popular item, of course! Who doesn’t love handknit socks?
P.S. We use the term seafarer to describe someone who works deep sea, an inland mariner describes someone who works on an American River.
When I go to yard sales in the Spring, I pick up all manner of plastic (clear) cosmetic cases — cylinder types that zip on top, etc. I have one that’s perfect — it holds a sock in progress, five needles, and the extra yarn, and it would be hard to damage a needle.
They sell special fancy cylinders at the craft stores, but I find that keeping the entire project in a two-pound clean coffee can works just as well — when you want to knit, you can take the knitting and needles out of the can and knit, with the yarn fed through a hole in the top of a can. The yarn stays clean and tangle-free, and when you’re done, just put the project back into the can.
Nan
Comment by Nan Dodge — May 2, 2007 @ 8:48 am
That is a good idea. Someone recommended a pencil case, but that really doesn’t help the needles that are in the sock. The coffee can fits the whole project! Very clever. I’m on it.
Comment by jeanette — May 2, 2007 @ 10:10 am
Try using two circular needles in place of the double-pointed. I have made socks this way and it works well. I have not tried adapting a sock pattern to this method, but it seems to me that you should be able to do it without much trouble.
Comment by Cyndie — November 24, 2007 @ 5:16 pm