Thursday, February 27, 2014

Updating the emergency knitting kit

Many moons ago Helena mentioned the wisdom of keeping a sock-in-progress handy for emergencies - the real life medical kind, set in an actual emergency room or other hospital zone - and boy was that a good idea.  I went through a real rash of that kind of event a couple of years ago and if you've been through one, you know: they often involve endless anxious waiting where knitting is a huge, huge comfort.

Thankfully 'emergency' takes on more benign definitions for me these days, but I'm wary now, and don't take chances.  Better to be careful, and make sure I have at least one sock of a pair started and past the ribbing in case it's needed.  Past emergencies are why I carry a bigger purse now than I used to: that sock lives inside it, and comes out on the subway or outside a store that hasn't opened yet or when I have fifteen minutes to kill between appointments.


Digression Alert:

Speaking of the subway: lately, I've been noticing what people are doing with their phones in there.  They're not usually reviewing their e-mail or reading a book - they're playing a game, and amazingly, it's always the same game.  Some bejeweled or fruity form of Tetris.  I kind of get it, but really I'd rather knit, or look around at the other people riding in my car.

I mean, have you noticed how looking at other people is a great way to get knitting inspiration?  There are some fantastic hats on public transit this winter!

End Digression.

Though I usually refer to it as 'travel knitting', the fact is that my purse project is my emergency first-aid kit.  It's got to have at least 2 hours' knitting time in it, and the needles have to be short for working in tight spaces and stowing safely in my bag, and the actual stitch has to be pretty mindless.  Plain socks are ideal...


... and these ones no longer qualify.

Luckily I always have a few pre-caked sock yarns to take the place of the previous emergency pair.  And even luckier, I still love sock knitting enough that one pair passing the torch to another feels like a huge achievement.  Not least when the old socks have ended and the new ones begun without a single dreadful phone call.


Let's just take one look back at the old ones, shall we?


So, so pretty.  They're Vespers, of course - the emergency kit is almost always Vesper, because it's so compact - and I'll give them a proper showcase another day.

Meanwhile, I hope you have a lovely day today that's emergency free!

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