Thursday, February 20, 2014

Handknit socks for springtime travels

It's pretty great when you're able to travel with a very compact wardrobe.  Lighter luggage means more energy for sightseeing, and maybe even more space for bringing home interesting things.  The trick is to come up with a good wardrobe plan.


Naturally, any really good wardrobe plan starts with choosing which handknit socks to pack - or in my case, make.

Yeah, I'm taking another vacation this spring, which is just weird because normally I go 10 years minimum between getaways.  This time it's to Boston, where I plan to do a lot of walking in warmish temperatures, and after the hilly strolls in Italy last year I am certain I will be much happier if I can pack many a pair of handknits rather than plain black cotton socks.   At the end of the days I wore cotton socks - hoo boy, were my dogs barking.

If it were just a matter of throwing some socks in a bag - no problem, I have tons at the moment.  But I like to coordinate them with my go-to scarf, which I am pretty sure I  have pegged as this nice floral one.  It was a Christmas present from a friend who never saw a purple thing she didn't like, and I rather love this colour combo myself.  It says Spring, it's got several colours that really suit me, it will cheer up my favourite things that are black, and it's the perfect size for travel.

This yarn from last spring's Vesper club is a perfect match for it, don't you think?


I was just worrying that one match wouldn't be enough when the latest Vesper club yarn turned up in my mailbox:


Pretty sure that's going to work too.

Ideally I'll find a third colourway or else a second backup scarf that matches one of these plus a pair of socks I've already made, but in the meantime, there is another question to consider:

Do I want full length socks to hide under pantlegs, or ankle socks to wear with skirts in warmer weather?

I could answer this myself (full length, always safest) if I wasn't acutely aware of how much faster ankle socks are to knit, and how useful in summertime.  Maybe I should knit them toe-up this time, and decide later, perhaps over tea and a travel guide.

It's a nice problem to have, either way.  Hope your day's knitting problems are as cheerful!

2 comments:

Jezz said...

What a lovely scarf! You ARE the ultimate knitter--planning your hand knitted wardrobe, AND knitting them before you go! Your yarn colorways look great. What month will you be in Boston?

Mary Keenan said...

It'll be May, Jezz... I'm anticipating warm weather, but that's probably wishful thinking. After this winter though anything in May will feel warm!