Great Minds Think Alike

Early this year I picked up a skein of Austermann Step in the Petrol colorway at Silver Threads and Golden Needles in Franklin, NC. I chose the colorway because it reminded me of my well loved turquoise jewelry. When I began swatching for socks, I chose the gull and garter stitch pattern, which resembles the fletching on an arrow, because it was yet another connection to my Native American turquoise. Swatching was finished and the socks were underway when I received my issue of Knitter's magazine announcing the Think Outside the Sox contest. I thought my socks were pretty good and discussed entering them with my family and friends. Around the end of May, with my "Fletching Sox" complete, I began swatching for a different design idea. A couple of weeks ago I purchased Shear Spirit (by author Joan Trapper with photography by Gale Zucker) from Knit Picks. What did I find on the cover? a pair of socks virtually the same as mine. Inside I further investigated Sheri Franz's Welsh Traveling Socks and found only a few differences. My socks feature 1x1 ribbing on the cuff rather than Sheri's 2x2 ribbing and I gave the sole of the sock a different treatment. Since I have a very high instep, I often choose to use 1x1 ribbing on the sole so that the sock hugs the bottom of my foot rather than bunching up like some socks tend to do. The only other major differences were in the yarn, guage, and number of stitches cast on. It's back to the drawing board (or swatching board) for the Sox contest, but, like I told my husband, at least I have good ideas (and so does Sheri!). Check out Trapper and Zuckers collaboration. Both text and imagery are wonderful. It is inspiring to an aspiring shepherd to learn how others got involved with their herds. The designs are great; just my style. I highly recommend this book to spinners and knitters alike. I have already earmarked several of the projects for my own homespun.