The Post I Started to Write

I started out writing this post earlier in the week and got sidetracked by my love of books. I originally wanted to talk to you about what an honor and privilege it is for Lorna's Laces to be included in books.

Books like this:


















Which is a revision of this:























Folk Socks is one of a handful of iconic knitting books. When Nancy Bush called me in the summer of 2010 to tell me she was revising it and wanted to use our yarn, I was pretty speechless. First of all, Nancy Bush was calling. If all she wanted was to say "hello", I would have walked on air. But she wanted to use our yarn to replace some yarns in the original patterns that are no longer available. That was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled up into one.

Originally published in 1994, this is a go-to book for sock knitters all over the world. It starts out with the history of socks. First ones made from woven fabric and then the evolution of the knitted sock. She gives us a tour of the traditions in Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and other parts of Europe. There's a great discussion of guilds.

Then she gets into the how-to part of the book. I really liked the pattern/chapter for The Basic Sock because she shows several variations for heels and toes. I tend to get in a rut and use the same heel all the time so this was a nice nudge to explore other possibilities.

The balance of the book is patterns. There are two that use Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. We did special colors just for this book. The first is St. Peter Port Stripes.























It has a Balbriggan Heel and a Wide Toe. The word Balbriggan makes me smile. It is knit from Charcoal, Natural and Folk Socks Black.

The second sock is Flammegarn. It's named for yarn dyed by rush or twine around the yarn before it's placed in a dye bath. We did it a little differently, but I think Folk Socks Red turn out pretty nicely.
























This book is a real treasure. It's the kind of book that you can go back to over and over not only for great patterns but because the text teaches us all the wonderful history and gives us a connection to all the knitters that came before and will come after us.