Friday 20 January 2012

Public Service Announcement

This is a public service announcement about the dangers of knitting while drinking. You may not think it can happen to you, but please pay attention just in case.

On Christmas Eve, heading out to meet my mum and brother at the hotel we'd booked for the next few days, I grabbed some knitting to take with me. I decided to start a plain, toe-up vanilla sock, something I knew I could work on while chatting.

I did not take into account that I would also be drinking. Not heavily, but apparently too much to knit well *laughs* Even just knitting stocking stitch in the round.

So, as this is a PSA, here are some of the side effects you may experience should you drink and knit.

  • You may forget to stop decreasing your toe at a sensible number of stitches, and end up with 16 stitches more than you ordinarily would for a pair of socks
  • You may not notice this until some considerable time has passed
  • You may decide that you are not in the mood to rip back, and carry on regardless
  • You may come up with the cunning plan to make the foot slightly shorter, to stretch the stitches a little 
  • You may, after finishing the foot, realise that you need to decrease the number of stitches to avoid having baggy ankles
  • You may throw these decreases in randomly at the start of the next few rows, without giving it much thought
You may, as a result, end up with a sock that has a footprint that looks like this:


And a profile that looks like this... Behold, The Drunken Sock of Deformity. It sort of looks like a fish to me!


Strangely, this sock actually fits. It's obviously not the best fit, but on my foot it looks pretty normal. Normal enough that I made a second one, at least *laughs*


Drunken Sock of Deformity is on the right. On the left is the second sock, which presented its own dilemma... Whether to knit it the same as the other, to make a properly matching pair, or to make it normal sized. 

I settled on a compromise, of not making it so badly as the first, but still not quite right. Apparently I hit a sweet spot in the yarn, and ended up with crazy pooling colours instead. 

They swish around the foot. It's quite fun really. I know lots of people hate pooling yarns, but I wanted my socks to pool (in fact, I was disappointed that the first sock didn't!)

So, in conclusion, knitting and drinking is not something I can recommend. Even if you do end up with a pair of socks that have a good story behind them *laughs*


On the plus side, they are made with stashed yarn that I received in a swap. I think I had taken the yarn off my previously published totals already, as the socks were finished before the new year, but at least it's something else out of the stash!

And if you're reading this and thinking about how hard socks are to knit, I encourage you to read yesterday's post *grins*

Of course, being Friday, head out to see some more (hopefully less drunken) FOs, Creativity and Fibre Arts. Have a good weekend :)

48 comments:

  1. Ha, that's brilliant. I myself have had a few and tried to knit, the next day I always wonder what I was thinking! I love the pooling myself, and I love that the socks are different. That's just my style!

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  2. Looks great! I wouldn't have guessed that you messed up at all!

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  3. They look good, nice and cheerful colour!

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  4. haha! Thanks for the laugh. I plead the fifth on having an evening like that ;-) I love how the color turned out on the second sock. That is a truly unique pair and must admit, you'll always have a smile while wearing them knowing the evening they were created.d

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  5. Hahahaha!!!! So true. It happens to all of us. Too funny.

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  6. HAHAHAHAHA.... I nearly spit tea out of my nose.

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  7. Some people couldn't knit those cool socks 100% sober, so go you! lol. I love the bright colors.

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  8. Thanks for the laugh first thing this morning!

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  9. This post made me giggle :) I shall take heed on the announcement and refrain from crafting while drinking :P

    Glad you have something that is still wearable, and will make you chuckle :)

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  10. I needed this post this morning, thank you for the pubic service announcement, I will keep this in mind!

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  11. That's awesome. I'm still working on finding the sweet spot of knitting socks that work for me so your being able to add in so much "improvisation" to your sock and still be happy with the product is quite impressive :-)

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  12. Fanstastic post, it really made me laugh. Then I laughed out loud again when I thought of being there when this was all actually taking place! Has really cheered up my day.

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  13. Hahahaha...that's awesome!
    (Something must be really wrong with me, because I actually prefer the fit of the drunken sock of deformity, Natalie!!) XXO--

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  14. I am laughing right now. Only because I really am sure it will never happen tome :P

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  15. Hysterical; I laughed out loud at this!!!! The differences dont even show when you have them on.

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  16. Too funny!!! I love that it still fits though!

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  17. Oh...goodness. But if they fit, then who cares what they look like off of your foot? It's not like there are knitting police who snoop in your sock drawer to make sure your socks *look* good.

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  18. Friends don't let friends drink and knit.

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  19. Hahah! It actually looks good on, though! You must be a pretty practiced sock knitter to get that done drunk. I forgot to do the gusset decreases on my sock last night and I hadn't had a drop.

    One time, after a few drinks, I thought it was a good idea to bring my mohair shawl to a bonfire at the beach. "It'll be ok! It's garter stitch!" There were dropped stitches and funky twists and splits, but the worst thing was that I was picking sand out of it for days before I finally gave up and threw it away.

    It's true: Friends don't let friends knit drunk! haha

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  20. Great post! Laughed heartily! Awesome pooling! A knitting adventure you definitely won't forget!

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  21. Great PSA, I'm still laughing!!! You may have invented the pattern for the very first interchangeable mitten sock! (see pic 2 where it looks like it could be a mitten too, btw, I definitely want some mitten socks of my own!) Thanks for sharing, love your blog!

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  22. I'm laughing, but I'm laughing with you. That is pretty awesome. Thank you for instructing us on the dangers of knitting while under the influence. On a side note, that pooling is so cool! I don't think I could make yarn do that if I tried.

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  23. Thank you for this courtesy PSA. But, those are some awesome socks! And all projects need a great creation story.

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  24. Thanks for the comment on my blog :) I'm happy I got over the common fear of DPNs! Your drunken socks look fabulous and I love the color of the yarn :D

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  25. I love it!!!! Some similar things have happened to me which resulted in frogging but I am mightily impressed with the lengths you went to in order to avoid that fate. I can't believe it actually fits and LOOKS GOOD ON! Not sure what that says about your foot....


    :D
    x

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  26. I love the one with the crazy pooling colors! Lucky thing that the deformed sock fits or you might not have gotten such an interesting second sock!

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  27. I, too, have experienced the danger of drunk knitting. I call it an extreme sport. You fared very well though!

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  28. LOL. Way too funny. I have sock phobia so this isn't helping. Even your last post is not enough to conquer the fear.

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  29. LMAO!! I love the drunken sock...and that you made an (almost) matching one. I tried drunken sock knitting before and I think I still have it on the needles.

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  30. Those socks are awesome! Are they really orange like I see on my monitor? I love orange more than any color right now. I do like the color variation of the drunken sock, I must admit. Pooling kinda makes me crazy. Thanks for the laugh.

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  31. Your socks look great! Even the drunken sock of deformity! lol. Great post :)

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  32. This is too funny! Thanks for the advice! I think your socks turned out lovely though.

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  33. Hee-hee! Great post! Thanks for the Public Service Announcement! Cute socks too.

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  34. Oh but the story is so worth it! Don't fret they look great!

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  35. And it all ended with a pair of snuggly sox.
    :)

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  36. I am so amazed you were able to redeem those socks. Amazing.

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  37. WOW...I thought I was the only person who knit Drunken Socks of Deformity! Perhaps there is a support group in the works...

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  38. It's like we're twins. Tipsy sock-mangling twins!

    I love the pooling. It's like a ribbon.

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  39. Ok, it is below zero in small town Canada today, hubby warming car... in cold...waiting... I started reading post, rofl, hubby tapping foot on floor not impressed...passed him the netbook, he reads and totally laughs out loud! Hahaha, too much exposure to fibreholics!
    Well done 2 of a kind socks, amazed you didn't need a drink to make the 2nd one!
    willow4

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  40. Hahaha, hilarious! What a great post and your socks look great!!

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  41. Love your PSA! But now I want a pair of Drunken Socks of Deformity just like yours. I love the fact that they ended up fitting so well.

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  42. The first time I looked at this post I was in a rush and just really looked at the pictures. Having a small amount of time for me last night i decided to read the blogs I subscribe to. You made me laugh sooo much! thanks for making me laugh :-)

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  43. Ha!!! Love those socks ... laughing embarrassingly hard at this post!

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  44. Those are some of the funniest socks I've ever seen! But they look good on, so it's all alright in the end.

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  45. Someone had to speak out on this subject...thank you. You may have saved countless skeins of yarn from drunken knitting! LOL!
    –Cassandra

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  46. Drunken Socks of Deformity! Sounds like a cool knitting sorority!

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