Knitting in Pairs

After years of exploring different knitting projects: baby blankets, hats, scarves, even sweaters, I've come to the conclusion that the only thing I truly love knitting is socks. But each time I undertake this venture, I find myself regretting it once I get to the heel of the second pair, and I exclaim "DON'T EVER LET ME KNIT A PAIR OF SOCKS AGAIN".

Knitting socks, for those of you who have never tried it, follows a typical pattern, and the pattern is this:


"cuff - leg - heel - foot - toe"



or translated (and here I quote Stephanie) as:

"interesting - boring - interesting - boring - interesting"

It never fails that by the second sock, when I reach the first segment of "boring" I am just that, completely bored. And even if the yarn is some kind of super expensive super exciting self-striping magical adventure, by this point I'm over it. I'm ready for something new. I'm ready to not be knitting socks anymore.

And from this frustration, the greatest idea of all time was born: why not knit socks in pairs?
I don't mean pairs like one sock, two sock.
I mean pairs like two people.
Each knitting one sock. Cutting the "interesting-boring" cycle in half, and therefore the completion time.

Now for some of you (Emma) who pride themselves on precision, this may not be for you. But for those of us who don't mind a pair of slightly-different length and gauge socks, I highly suggest trying it!

You'll need two balls of matching sock yarn (the downside, as most of the time you can create a pair from one skein) and a willing partner. After some disgruntled text messaging arguing over needle size, you can get started! In a few short weeks, an unsuspecting friend can be the recipient of a cool pair of new socks. And you, my friend? You can move on to your next project...