Aiming for 100...80 pairs so far

At the beginning of the year, I made a New Year's Resolution to knit my 100th pair of socks in 2011.

I've knit 80 pairs so far! Here are pairs 75 - 79. I won't be posting #80 for a few days since they are a gift.

Back in January, I went to Vogue Knitting with my personal knitting enable, my sister-in-law.

We took a class from Cookie A, a sock designer I admire. When I heard she was starting a Sock Club, I had to join. Every other month, I get a skein of very pretty sock yarn, 2 sock patterns (one easy / one hard) and 2 cookie recipes!

I didn't use the sock yarn she sent (it has cashmere! too nice for my feet :-) ) so I knit the first pattern, Haleakala using Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Blue Yonder. I knit the second pattern, Ripple Leaf using Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Springtime.

Hubby is always asking for more socks. I finally finished his 13th pair. It took me a very long time because I am not fond of cabling and there is a lot of cabling in these socks. I came close to ripping them out at one point because I was worried they weren't going to fit but they do!

In case you haven't realized, I love knitting socks. One of the things I love about sock knitting is that it is a very portable project. I can fit a work-in-progress in my purse and I can get in a bit of knitting while I wait at a doctor's office, etc...

The Cookie A patterns for me and the Manly Aran Socks for hubby are not what I consider portable patterns -- meaning they are really patterns best knit at home while watching Tivo with the remote nearby so I can hit pause when I lose my spot or need to concentrate.

But pairs #75 and #78 are what I consider incredibly portable and I always have at least two portable projects on the needles and ready to go out with me on an errand. I usually do the toe and heels at home but the foot and cuff of the sock are usually a very basic pattern that I have memorized or can just repeat by looking at the rows below.

I just got my next Cookie A sock club yarn last week and I'm hoping to start another pair of Cookie socks tonight!