the comfort of socks

pattern: charades yarn: end of the row

Happy Year of the Rooster! I can't believe how fast this month has flown by. Lately, I've been having a hard time keeping up with everything that needs to get done. Housework and grocery shopping are unfortunately not as appealing and fun as knitting or reading a good book. Actually, I would rather clean the house than go grocery shopping any day. In fact, I have been pestering the hubby into buying an extra freezer but the confounded man thinks that it will end up storing more yarn than food. Hah, he sure knows me well after all these years :)

One area that thankfully is not lacking in effort is my knitting. I am currently making an attempt to organize my to-knit list for this year by grouping yarn and pattern together into project bags. I have about four sweaters worth of yarn ready and waiting for when the mood strikes. Next up is to organize the sock yarn stash into future projects but that task is proving more difficult because there are so many wonderful sock patterns out there! Here is just a smattering of beauties just waiting to be knit up this year:

*charades are similar to my beloved skyp socks but without the purling (currently on the needles)
*whiskey and rye looks so stunning in autumn colors
*this beautiful version of the father's new socks (I even have the exact colors in my stash)
*flying north socks with a variegated yarn (love this pair)
*this gorgeous version of a twist of fair isle
*fun texture with bright pops of color for the (froot loop) win
*one of my favorite stitch patterns reincarnated into the lovely tulsi socks
*quick warm cozy sporty hyak
*bright & colorful jelly rolls
*rye would make a toasty pair of bedsocks
*pretty laule'a proves that simple is far from boring when knit in a pretty color
*every flavor stripy socks make perfect use of leftover sock yarn

my 2016 box of sox

I could go on & on but my current socks on the needles are patiently waiting for some attention. After having a heavy heart all weekend while watching events unfold here in America, I woke up on Monday determined to focus my energy on positive action. I went on Ravelry and found a wonderfully active and welcoming group called hats and more for war-torn Syria. They are collecting warm items and other necessities for those displaced by the war in Syria and the region. It seems that wool socks are in short supply and much needed. Since I love to knit socks but rarely ever wear them, I will be sending my box of sox (with the exception of the stripy monster ones) along with an assortment of hats and mittens. It lightens my heart to know that these items will offer some comfort. And motivates me to knit more socks to donate.

Hope that you are finding even a little bit of time each day to do what you love!