Thursday, August 9, 2012

To Match or Not to Match?

One sock of my Welsh Flag Socks for the Ravellenic Games is completed! I've cast on for the second sock and am plugging away as quickly as I can to get them finished. I'm not sure whether they'll be finished in time for the end of the Olympics. I'm ok with that though.

I was having a conversation with the recipient of these socks (who is half Welsh, hence the Welsh theme) and we had a discussion about the theories behind matching hand knitted socks. There are two schools of thought, at least as far as I know, on the idea of matching socks when making a pair from self-striping yarn.

The first school of thought is that a pair of socks should match. I've seen knitters go to great lengths to ensure they end up with a pair of socks that match up perfectly from cuff to toe. This dedication, to me, demonstrates a level of commitment and skill to their craft and the finished product.

The second school of thought, and the one that I subscribe to, is that it's ok for a pair of socks to be fraternal twins rather than identical. I get a thrill from seeing how the yarn works up based on where the repeat starts.


In my humble opinion, I believe that a person's hand-knit socks can say a lot about a person. For me, knitting a pair of socks is knitting two individuals. Two experiences. Two different pieces that come together to make one set. I also think that it adds some personality to my socks.

And I like personality in my socks. And, thankfully, so does he.

What are your thoughts on matching your socks? 

No comments:

Post a Comment