Half-Sock Update: Now A Complete Pair!

It was hard for me to admit to the world that I let a half-sock linger in my yarn bowl for nine months. Shortly after publishing my last post I decided I needed to form an action plan to hurry up and finish it already! If I believed that I didn’t have the time to finish the sock, then I needed to make the time. Suddenly I had the moment of clarity I had been waiting for: The last ten or fifteen minutes of my lunch hour are usually spent perusing WTOP or my Facebook feed. What if I didn’t do that for a few days, and worked a few rounds instead? Status updates and the noon news could wait a while.

At last, basking in their finished glory. 

The second sock was done in three days. I was so motivated and inspired by this that I started another pair. My latest projects are now a mainstay in my work bag. I store them in a large Ziploc bag for protection. However, this isn’t always very effective, as the skinny bamboo needles pierce right through.

Another happy discovery I made by bringing my knitting to work was how much other people appreciated what I was doing. Some coworkers asked me to show them how, which led to impromptu, one minute knitting lessons. Others shared with me that they enjoyed needlepoint, crochet and rug hooking. I didn’t expect that what I was doing on my lunch would encourage such positive dialogue and create an opportunity to get to know one another a little better.

Needless to say, I’m pleased to be back in the groove of knitting after a long, necessary break. I hadn’t realized how burnt out I was becoming. As much as I love to knit, I think I was starting to overdo it last year. Add in the adjustment of a new job, and one can see how easily a half completed project could be abandoned. At the end of each day I found relaxing with the crossword preferable to the concentration it would take to avoid mistakes and dropped stitches.

That’s not all I want to discuss today. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this next issue, as I feel it’s not worth it, but it still needs to be addressed. By “it,” I mean the latest abomination to the knitting world known as, “The Knook.”

Dun dun dun!

Yes, The Knook. These contraptions consist of pointed knitting needles that can be turned upside down and used as crochet hooks. Now all of your fiber crafting needs can be found in one nifty place, right? Um, no. Any intermediate knitter or crochet-er will tell you that needle sizes and hook sizes have no overlap! Try as you might, you won’t find any crochet hook in the world that is the exact same size as a knitting needle.

What does this mean? If you use these…things…for either knitting or crochet, the quality of your work will suffer. This is because you won’t be able to get the proper gauge (stitches per inch) necessary to create the proper look/fit of whatever is being made.

Even worse, The Knook comes with a few paltry yards of the cheapest polyester cord that money can buy.

Overall, my opinion is that The Knook shows a blatant disrespect for both crafts, and encourages its users to learn wrong stuff. It’s aimed squarely at beginners who run the risk of being completely turned off to either craft, all because they were exposed to this junk.

As unpleasant as this is, let’s get it out there and spread the word. Just say no to The Knook. I am quite disappointed in A.C. Moore for carrying this product. If Billy Mays were still alive, it would fit right in on one of his late night infomercials.

Kaboom indeed. 

I digress.

I’m planning another children’s book review for the next post. Hint: It will be a throwback for children of the 1990s as well as the 1940s. Stay tuned!