Trish Knits.com

This afternoon I got a raised eyebrow from my teen daughter as she espied yet another Amazon box on my porch. “ANOTHER book, Mom? Really!” she groaned. She raised her eyebrows again when I told her I’d been waiting for this book for six months.

I lied. When I logged into Amazon tonight, I got a quick reminder flag at the top of the browser, reminding me that I’d already ordered this title, in JULY. Way more than six months ago. This was more like waiting for a baby to arrive.

But let me tell you, when I finally got to unwrap my long-awaited copy of Socks from the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns from Wendy Knits, I was not disappointed. The photos are stunning and numerous. The illustrations are clear, and the writing makes the techniques described in the book incredibly easy to follow.

I do have to ‘fess up and say, if you don’t know this about me already, I’m reeeeeeaaaallllly not a sock knitter. I’ve made one pair in my life, and it was done as a tutorial, so that I could wrap my head around how socks are made. I think the primary reason for my being a not-sock-knitter is that, well, I wear orthotics on my legs and so I don’t wear anything more than knee-high hose. So the big reward of knitting socks has never been there for me.

So why did I buy this book? Well, if I were a sock knitter? I’d knit them all from the toe up. So at least I can imagine myself making these. The whole idea of top-down socks is a major turnoff for some reason. So the patterns in this book are at least speaking my language. Second, with only a few exceptions, nearly everyone I love has feet, so making socks for someone else certainly is a thought I can entertain. Third, the socks in this book are so PRETTY! For someone who hasn’t ever really knit socks, I do have quite a collection of sock yarn, so these gorgeous patterns fit the bill. They embrace techniques that I love and want to learn more about. They’re simply lovely.

There’s a lot of variety in there, too. Everything from basic socks (to help one learn th techniques), to simple lace, then complex lace, interesting textures, Ganseys, cables and more. All toe up. Simply wonderful.

Well done, Wendy! You might just make a sock knitter out of me yet.

*with apologies for the only semi-unintentional earworm that this post title might have caused…

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