This year's sole Christmas gift
Sometimes knitting for others really pays back a million-fold in love. This is one of those stories.
My parents are back in the US for the holidays for the first time in recent memory and I am ridiculously excited about getting to spend Thanksgiving, my birthday (which was last Friday), and Christmas with them. We've been hanging out and going out to dinner and getting along great (we all know that too much time with the family usually ends up in tension!)
Well enter Sunday, when I was hanging out at their place. I was sitting on the couch reading the Steve Jobs biography when my mom came over to me swinging a pair of multi-colored socks. She said to me, "remember these?" and I totally didn't. It was obvious that I'd knit them for her, but I had literally no memory of doing it until I saw the mistake in the leg . . . and then I remembered.
It was more than 10 years ago.
They were knit in ugly pink/white/yellow acrylic.
There's a big mistake on one of the legs.
And my mom still wears them.
In fact, she told me that she "doesn't wear them too much because she doesn't want them to wear out."
I'm still a bit dumbfounded.
So of course I'm making her another pair of ribbed, cushy socks. This time I'm using Koigu Kersti instead of Kmart acrylic, so they'll be even softer and cushier on her feet. She likes these bedsocks the best because they don't have elastic at the top and therefore don't leave a mark on her calf . . . which is something only my mother could care that much about, but there you go, that's who she is.
I cast on 44 stitches with size 4 needles and started doing K2, P2 rib. I'll be doing a contrast-color short-row heel and using the same color for the toe, and I'll post the free pattern here when it's ready. At this gauge I should be done in a few days!
And hopefully my mom will wear these for the next 10 years, too.
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Not related: I just listed more Hexipuff Mini-Skein Yarn Packs for sale, get them while they're in stock! A new Koigu shipment is arriving today too . . . stay tuned.
2 Responses
Amy (Peppermint Mocha Mama)
Aren’t you sweet to make such a gift for your mama. I have only knit one pair of socks in my life and they went to my eldest daughter – my mama only knit one pair of socks in her life and they went to me… sounds like we’ve got a ‘tradition’ started in this house.
I can’t wait to see the new pattern, perhaps I’ll break tradition and make another pair – I do have another daughter… lol.
Wool Free and Lovin knit
November 30, 2011
Oh, your mom is SO sweet — I’d be knitting her new socks too. Good luck with finishing them in time for Christmas!