Knit Like a Man

Disarming the Weapons of Mass Production.

July 28th, 2006

I am not a big podcast person. I think they’re great if you have a long commute in the morning, or want a lively alternative to what you can find on the radio. (The best podcasts, actually, strike me as radio programs for the networks of my dreams.) But I am not a big radio listener–which is a shame given where I work–and so am not a big podcast listener either. I prefer the sounds of silence, or continuous music, or screaming, or noisy gunfire. However, Amy made a reference to the opening seconds of Brenda Dayne’s knitting podcast Cast-On, and it made me feel guilty that I had never listened to a single one of Brenda’s 30 (!) episodes, and curious about what I was missing, so I gave episode 30 a little click and checked it out.

Boy, do I ever feel like I missed the boat. It is excellent–thoughtful, intimate and informative, specific to knitters and yet enjoyable for everyone. If you haven’t heard Brenda already, give yourself a little privacy and turn up the speakers. You’re in for a treat.

I was particularly struck by two things. First, her thoughts on knitting as a way of coping when the world all goes to hell are pretty much my thoughts exactly. Second, she talks about the virtues and problems of toe-up socks in considerable detail–and I was delighted to find that some of her solutions (the nifty new toe cast-on from the spring issue of Knitty, and the heel from this issue’s Widdershins pattern) were being realized in the very sock that I was coincidentally knitting. What can I say? I like people who think like me. I’m shallow that way.

I’m loving this sock, and making good progress on it. The Widdershins heel is essentially a good old-fashioned square slip-stitch heel–but in reverse, as it would need to be for a toe-up sock. This is one of those things that I had always fantasized about doing but had never figured out for myself. I’m so glad someone beat me to it! I’m nearly finished the increases for the gusset and I’m just about to turn the heel. There’s nothing like turning the heel in a whole new way. Keep those fingers crossed for me.

So many people ask me (and probably ask you as well) the classic question–Why knit socks, which wear out so easily, when you can buy them? I’m with Stephanie on this: that’s the point. Unlike mass-produced socks, handknit socks are delicious for your feet. They should be worn, they should be experienced, and that experience by its very nature is fleeting.

Just like life.

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