Toe Up ... What Else?

This makes me smile ... hell, it makes me laugh out loud. In fact, I think if it doesn't give you at least a chuckle, you might have a serious problem, like being dead or comatose.

And right at the moment, not much makes me smile. We're in the middle of an economic recession (yes, the same one that our current administration said we hadn't entered yet, that one). Jobs are insecure. My 401(k) could fit into a coin purse. My savings are nonexistent. Unemployment is high, crime is higher, and we're still at war. Christmas is coming and I'm experiencing some serious grinchification.

But that sock would bring a chuckle to the most depressed economist, in my opinion.

It's Opal, of course. And I say of course because, let's face it, Opal yarn is one of the Wonders of the Western World. How could you not love something that's just so outrageously beautiful while also being dependable and knittable and wonderfully wearable and washable. Opal, I worship at your (sock-clad) feet.

And I like it best in a very simple toe-up pattern like the one above. The pattern is my own, adapted freely from the Gospels of Ann Budd and Wendy Johnson, to whom I owe my allegiance.

And what I love about these two women, who do not, I don't think, have any connection to each other at all, is that they are Technique people. And by that I mean that, once you understand their methodology, you can adapt any pattern to it. Ann, of course, is seen quite often in the pages of Interweave Knits. Wendy can be found at www.wendyknits.net (thank you, Jane, for correcting me--you were right!) and has a new book, aptly called "Socks From The Toe Up," out soon.

Go buy some Opal, or dig some out from your stash--you know you have it! Then go to Wendy's blog and knit a toe-up sock. I promise you--you'll never knit one of those bulky slip stitch heels again.

Well, that's probably a lie. The pair of socks I just finished were cuff down and, in retrospect, the only possible reason I would knit cuff down again is to put on a picot cuff. But, since I've never yet knit a picot cuff, and have no immediate plans to do so, that probably won't constrain me in the future.