My Passions – Knitting, Socks and Knitting Socks

I don’t remember learning to knit.  Like learning my ABC’s, 1 2 3’s and Do Re Mi’s, it was just something I learned, with no recollection of doing so.  What I have been told is that when I was about 4 years old, my Mom was knitting and I asked her to teach me.  She wasted no time and had knitting needles and yarn in my hand immediately.  I do remember my first project was a headband.  I also remember not liking to purl, but apparently that is normal for new knitters.  I’m over that now.

I’ve now been knitting over 50 years.  I love it and rarely a day goes by that I haven’t knit.  My favourite time is between 6:30 and 7am, when I catch up on the overnight sports, while knitting before I go to work.  Over the years I’ve knit dozens of Lopi sweaters (remember them), Irish Fisherman knit sweaters, once making on for the late Liam Clancy on a challenge from him, afghans, blankets, baby outfits, mitts, hats, scarfs, neck-warmers, socks and more.  Occasionally I have knit as an extra source of income.  I remember receiving a frantic call on December 10 (my birthday, that’s how I remember) wondering if I could make a particular sweater for a gentleman, as a Christmas gift for his wife.  I accepted the order and did complete it which also included having to locate the yarn.  Dear lord, whatever was I thinking?  I was unemployed at that time, so I could dedicate many hours of daily knitting.  It was a pattern with a lot of intricate cables and some of which I’d never done before.  I finished it on December 23rd.  Never again would I do that.

My obsession now is socks.  I love socks.  I have no idea where my love of socks began, but I believe it was when I had a newspaper route and I’d get so many pairs of socks for Christmas.  I like all kinds of socks from commercially made to homemade, from light weight to heavy weight, from long socks to shorties, from multi-coloured to one colour, from wool to cotton; I just love socks.  Knitting socks is my all-time favourite thing to knit.  There are so many patterns, so many types of yarn, so many colours of yarn, so many combinations of toes, heels and ribbing.  It’s fun to experiment with variegated yarns, to see how they pool when knit in a rib, or stockinette stitch or in a pattern.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it most definitely doesn’t work.  

I often have small amounts of yarn leftover after making a larger pair of socks. I use the leftovers to make a mini sock to hang on a tree. The tree remains up all year and whenever I look at it, I remember the people I made the socks for when I look at the matching mini sock.

I’m also working on a blanket using leftover sock yarn. Some of the yarn has been given to me by friends who knit socks and don’t use the leftovers. This is a work in progress and will take time to complete.

There is nothing better than finding a nice yarn shop to visit.  When I travel, it is one thing I try to find and have found some dandies in Edgartown, Massachusetts, Freeport, Maine and  closer to home in Tatamagouche and Baddeck, Nova Scotia.  My favourite was Baadeck Yarns in Baddeck.  (No, that is not a spelling error.  It is a play on words.)  Baadeck Yarns was located in the home of the owner of the shop, Pat Fields.  Pat was wonderful.  She was always willing to help with a pattern, find the perfect yarn, suggest a new product or just let you browse.  Her shop was beautiful and even if I didn’t buy anything, I just felt a calmness being amongst all the gorgeous fibres, the colours, the displays, the large spinning wheel in the loft, and the peacefulness that came with a visit.  It was therapeutic.  Sadly Pat closed her shop last year.  I still miss it and I’ve not been to Baddeck since she closed.  

On a happy note, there is now a mobile yarn shop called “Tracy’s Rolling Yarn Shop”, owned by Tracy Stubbard.  Tracy tells me she started knitting dishclothes when she worked at a call centre, but then got away from knitting.  In 2014 a co-worker taught her how to knit socks and she has just grown from there knitting many things, but she always has a pair of socks on the go.  In 2017 she was diagnosed with cancer. After her treatments finished she started working with Pat at Baadeck Yarns. When Pat said she wanted to retire, Tracy jokingly said she would buy a bus and take Baadeck Yarns on the road.  Then 2020 arrives, as does Covid, a second cancer diagnosis for Tracy, and Pat retires and sells her house where her shop was located.  In the meantime Tracy had already bought a trailer and was working to make it look like a yarn shop.  She purchases Pat’s inventory and it just grew from there.  Now Tracy takes the yarn shop on the road to places like Cheticamp, Baddeck, Antigonish, Arichat, Bouladerie, Port Hawkesbury, etc. and when not on the road she sets up in her own driveway in Dominion.  In Tracy’s words, “I’m grateful that I was able to follow through with this, as everyday I wake up is a blessing. And it’s the most rewarding job, because all the customers are happy and they are loving my concept!!”  I know I’m loving her concept and have visited her Rolling Shop three times already.  She has a lot packed into her trailer.  It reminds me of visiting Baadeck Yarns, as she has wonderful displays, she arranges her colours and types of yarn to make it so eye appealing, and her quality of yarn is second to none.  

If you are a knitter, do yourself a favour and visit Tracy’s Rolling Yarn Shop. Follow Tracy on Facebook by searching Tracy’s Rolling Yarn Shop for her travel schedule and/or check out her website www.tracysyarns.ca .

I hope you enjoyed this latest blog post. Leave a comment, ask a question, make suggestions for future blogs, or message me if you like. I hope to post more often in the future.

All photos taken by yours truly.