Monica Knits

This article discusses the benefits of hand knitting socks.

There were several factors that led me to start knitting socks. I mentioned a couple of reasons in an earlier article, "My First Socks": the act of knitting was comforting and, I had time to knit each morning and evening while soaking and exercising my injured feet.

Why I knit socks:
1. multitasking (waiting rooms, queues, watching TV, etc.)
2. relaxation
3. unlimited design choices (secret socks)
4. durability
5. fit
6. comfort
7. gifts

I am hard on socks: I tend to walk several miles each day and also like padding around our home in stocking feet. I found that purchased socks no longer have sufficient durability, are no longer as thick as formerly. They don't last more than a few months before the soles become threadbare and develop holes--frustrating. I had started wearing men's work socks for gardening, but I have narrow feet so these didn't fit very well and served only as a stop-gap measure. Plus, hand-knit socks are made-to-measure, so they don't slip off my feet in the rubber boots I wear gardening.

I enjoy wearing fun, comfortable, colorful and whimsical socks (secret socks) to the office with my dress pants. It's a secret pleasure in an otherwise conservative office environment.

In winter I like wearing warm, silky socks to bed, since I can't fall asleep if my feet are cold. Hand-knitted socks don't need elastic and can be made so that they don't bind. Plus, I don't like shocking my husband with cold feet--even though he is very good natured when I warm my feet against his.