Thockies

The dining and dancing has come to a halt and it's back to knitting for this Grandma. Knowing that while the Grand Kids were here for March Break, it might would be impossible to work on Waterloo, I started a pair of socks.

Not just any socks, but 'thockies', from Elizabeth Zimmermann's book Knitting Around.

Elizabeth said that one (or perhaps all) of her children had trouble prouncing the letter S when small, and therefore "anything between the shoe and the foot was called a 'thockie'." Of course, Elizabeth being Elizabeth, she couldn't just knit a simple 'thockie'. Instead, she 'unvented' a Moccasin sock. One in which the complete sole is replaceable. She calls them RETREADS.

To quote - "the entire sole of the foot is knitted in one piece, it can be replaced when necessary without disturbing the instep, which never seems to wear out. Also the sock itself can be knitted in a pale or pastel color, and the sole can be worked in a more practical navy or black."

My Moccasin sock is being knit in Briggs & Little Tuffy in a pale beige/grey colour on 3.25mm needles. The leg is finished and the heel stitches are now on hold.

I have decreased away the 'gusset' stitches and am knitting the top of the foot or in 'sock talk', the instep.

Eventually, stitches will be picked up around the instep and knit down, while decreasing, until they meet in the centre of the bottom of the foot. The stitches are then 'Kitchenered' together. A unique way to make socks, that is just one of the enlightening aspects of my year with Elizabeth.