Socks are the short stories of knitting

Alternately Titled: Why I Am Not Really A Sock Knitter

The cutest short row heel ever

My knitting life closely parallels my reading life (and, for that matter, the rest of my life, but that's another post). My favorite kind of fiction is epic in scope - a huge honking tome of a book (or even better, series of books) that you can really get lost in. There is nothing that makes me happier than a book that takes a really long time to read and makes me feel empty afterward because I miss the world that it has created. The Lord of the Rings trilogy springs to mind. So does John Hersey's The Wall. (That's why I'm waiting with such anticipation for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to come out in paperback next month.)

The knitting equivalent of these books is an Alice Starmore sweater, a really complicated lace, or anything a bit clever that I have to work out for myself. These are my absolute favorite knits. And when they're done, even if they turn out wonderfully (so wonderfully that I have to get up in the middle of the night and look to make sure they're really as fabulous as I imagine), I miss them when they're over. Because honestly, after a knit like that, where is there to go?

However, there are large swathes of time, "seasons" as I refer to them, when no matter how much I would like to, I just can't manage a book (or knit) of this scope.

I have, mmmm..... completion issues.

Sound familiar?

At that point I usually have to turn to a short story to get me through. I love short stories, but at heart, I'm a girl who reads novels. The short stories just allow me to keep reading when the little brain is feeling littler, and can only concentrate on small chunks.*

For me, socks have come to serve the same function. They keep me entertained and generally interested in the medium. They are complex and satisfying in a very contained way. I've knit a lot of socks this year. This is my fifth pair. Still, they'll never be novels for me.

Which is why I'm not a sock-knitter.**

Though I do knit socks.

*I just finished Vintage Murakami - it's a wonderful series of short pieces that will launch you right back into novels again. Murakami novels in particular.

**Real sock-knitters are those people like my comments buddy Mary. These stalwart devotees never leave a knit shop without a skein or two of sock yarn, continually have multiple socks on the needles in various states of completion, and can happily knit socks for years without so much as a glance at a sweater. This, despite the fact that many of the intricate stockings they produce contain as many stitches as an afghan. Now that's a sock-knitter!