RDF/RSS Feed
Atom Feed
105,000+ now. Story is coming together nicely, though I’ve found some problems to be chainsawed out in revision.
For anyone who’s going to DragonCon, I got my panel schedule today (yesterday? I’m writing at full speed; I don’t know when I get what or what I did with it…) and am hoping to pick up a reading or signing time or both again this year. I’ll be on a couple of panels with Esther Friesner, which will be fun.
The current pair of socks (the last of the “summer socks” for this year) are on the heel flaps. Red, with a white stripe below the rolled top–the usual short-sock pattern. The foot section will be blue and white striped, and the toe will be red with a one-row white stripe. I hope the navy blue yarn I ordered comes in tomorrow or Thursday so I can start the foot as soon as I’ve turned the heel. I’m wering the 4th of July socks now (blue top and heel, red and white striped foot, blue toe…) If it doesn’t, I’ll go on and start the next regular (taller) socks.
But it’s after midnight again, so bedtime for the summer writer.
Comment by Jonathan Schor — August 6, 2015 @ 7:43 am
I think this has been asked before, but you seen to be always knitting socks. Are you just hard to your socks or do wool socks just have short lifetimes?
Comment by elizabeth — August 6, 2015 @ 8:52 am
Jonathan: Most socks have a short lifetime but can be replaced quickly by going to a store…thus most people do not know how long any given pair of socks lasts. Every sock starts with a number of wearings (in the average conditions that wearer provides) it will last. They don’t come with durability guarantees, for the most part, so you don’t know when you buy a sock what its average (let alone individual) lifespan is–how many wearings before it thins out and finally fails. And if commercial socks fit your feet, are comfortable enough, and you have enough money to replace them handily, you don’t have to worry about it. There are always socks in the store; you can toss the holey ones out and buy new ones any time you need them. (If you want to find out how many wearings your socks last, tag one–mark it–and then put a mark in a notebook every time you wear it. If you want to know more, mark seven pairs uniquely (a week’s worth) and wear them in strict rotation, so you know which day of the week each sock is worn. Do the weekend pairs wear out faster or slower than the weekday pairs? Etc.)
Human factors affecting sock wear include activity (right down to gait dynamics), weight, shoes worn, environment walked on (e.g. exposure to abrasive/corrosive particles), foot hygiene (calluses and longer toenails damage socks, putting sandy or dirty feet into socks puts abrasive particles in the sock), washing methods (soap v. detergent, etc.)
If you knit your own socks, you know how long it takes you to knit replacements. (Varies with knitter, of course, but always longer than it takes to get to the store and buy more unless you’re a field biologist on a remote site.) You need socks that will last long enough for you to knit a replacement–that’s the most critical durability requirement. (This is why wool is a better fiber choice than mohair or rabbit fur.) You have the opportunity to test yarns against each other for durability and comfort both. Socks knit of fine steel wire would probably last a long time, but your feet wouldn’t.
If, like me, you decide you want to wear hand-knit socks that actually fit your feet all the time, for the rest of your life, you then start building up a stockpile of socks so that, with rotation, each pair will last years. One of the yarns I use produces socks that last about 100 wearings, give or take 10%, on my feet with my normal activity. (Yes, I kept track when I started.) If I have 7 pairs of socks, and rotate, thus wearing that pair once a week or 52 times a year, it might last two years. If I have 14 pairs of socks and wear each pair once in two weeks, or 26 times a year, each pair might last four years. And so on. If I had 365 pairs, each worn once a year, each pair would last approximately a hundred years. (That’s not happening.) The sock’s total wearings lifespan divided by the number of wearings a year = sock’s lifespan in years.
Caveat the first: yarns vary. The same yarn, by the same manufacturer, may vary between colors (the chemicals used to dye the yarn–any fiber of yarn–affect the strength of the fibers and resistance to rubbing) and thus affect both comfort and durability. Of the first six pairs I knitted in 2012, two are still wearable, each definitely worn more than 100 times–the only two knitted in those colors. Quality of manufacture varies between manufacturers and within one, by time–some manufacturers get careless. Fiber source can vary–among sheep’s wool alone, the breed of sheep affects many aspects of the wool (length, crimp, thickness, etc) that then affects the strength, the softness, the way that fiber is affected by processing, and the durability of the fiber when used as sock yarn.
Caveat the second. The fiber itself is not the only factor determining how long a sock you knit will be a useful sock in your sock drawer. Socks can be damaged by accidents (I ripped a hole in one sock by catching it on a nail; a friend’s handknit was chewed by her dog; certain spills will permanently damage or destroy a sock) and they can be lost (left behind in a hotel, for instance) or stolen.
The knitter also has limitations. An older knitter with age-related vision problems or other physical problems (arthritis, Parkinson’s, etc.) cannot count on being able to knit replacement socks all the way to the end of life. Certainly can’t count on being a fast, accurate knitter to the end of life. Better get that stockpile going as soon as the decision’s made to wear only handknit socks.
So: as an older knitter with some predictable age-related vision and physical limitations, who wants to wear hand-knit wool socks for the rest of her life, which could (given genetics) be another thirty years but (also given genetics) might lose the ability to knit socks sooner than that, and who has other time-consuming things to do other than knit socks, it behooves me to keep on knitting socks. The knitting itself actually benefits my hands (I would be knitting *something* as therapy anyway) and the socks make my feet happy.
So…yes, I’m always knitting socks. I don’t think the socks I knit have a shorter lifetime than the socks I used to buy; I know I’m harder on socks in some ways and easier on them in others than I was forty years ago.
Comment by AnnN — August 9, 2015 @ 9:59 am
When you do retrieve your schedule, please post it. I’ll be going to Dragon*Con for the first time in nearly forever, and I’d like to see you.
Comment by elizabeth — August 9, 2015 @ 9:00 pm
AnnN: I haven’t received the final schedule–it was sent to me with TENTATIVE emphasized. Things do get changed in the last days if a major guest cancels, for instance. BUT, as it stands, I will be on these panels:
Title: Strong Women in SF
Description: Strong women abound in science fiction. We’ll discuss our favorites and what actually makes a woman character strong.
Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Embassy A-B – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Lee Martindale, Esther Friesner, Elizabeth Moon)
——————-
Title: Monsters and Mayhem
Description: Plot developments that make readers beg for more, and twists and obstacles to keep us reading.
Time: Sun 01:00 pm Location: Embassy D-F – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Bill Fawcett, Larry Correia, Rebecca Moesta, Elizabeth Moon, Peter David, Esther Friesner)
——————-
Title: Just Kill Me Now–Self-Editing
Description: How does a writer learn how to self-edit? It’s a painful task but the better a writer is, the easier selling becomes.
Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: Embassy D-F – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Lee Martindale, Lindsay Cummings, Lou Anders, Elizabeth Moon, Rebecca Moesta)
And I will have a reading and an autograph session. You can keep an eye out on the DragonCon site for the final program. I’m pretty sure I’ll be on those panels, but the time or room might shift as their needs dictate and the same with the reading and autograph schedule. I might also be in one of the Pern panels, but I haven’t heard yet (usually I’m going at least one with Pern fandom.)
I’d like to see you, too. Are you going to be there throughout, or just for one day, or what?
Comment by AnnN — August 12, 2015 @ 4:00 am
I live in Atlanta, and my membership is for all days. Will be taking MARTA (subway/train) into town each day, and sleeping at home. I suspect the cosplay folks all stay in hotels.
Am snickering at the self-editing panel after reading your posts here.
Comment by elizabeth — August 12, 2015 @ 8:46 am
AnnN: We should have fun on that panel, yes. I will refrain from reciting “The Chainsaw of Correction” at everyone…unless asked. Like the typical grandmother, I will “just happen” to have a copy somewhere in my knitting bag.
Comment by Jonathan Schor — August 13, 2015 @ 3:44 pm
So I looked up “The Chainsaw of Correction” – it can be found on line. Your one tough lady.