Thursday, January 10, 2013

365 Inspirations—Ten: Cozy Socks

"I have a huge addiction to colorful socks, because when you have an opportunity to be creative, why pass it up?"—Darren Criss

Cozy socks make a huge difference in how my day goes, especially in the winter! I don't care if the socks are all the same color or style. My sock collection is as varied as the posts I write here.

The socks in this picture hold particular meaning to me. My mother gave me these socks. I think she gave them to me for my birthday one year, but can't be quite sure. She told me they were from a little shop around where she lives and they were knitted from recycled materials, that's why they don't exactly match.

I don't care if they match or not. During the gray, cold winters we have in Seattle, it's good to have a bit of color and comfort to spice things up.

There's another reason why these socks are important to me. Last year my mother came to Seattle. She had an appointment and thought she'd stay the night at our house. In the middle of the night, we had to rush her to the emergency room because she was having a gall bladder attack. In a hurry to get out the door, my mother forgot her socks!

While waiting for the nurse, she complained that her feet were freezing. I took mine off and gave them to her. They were these socks in the picture above—the ones she had given me for my birthday.

It's amazing what something as simple as a pair of socks can do for someone. At least it gave my mother a little comfort as she waited for the nurse.

Now, whenever I put on these socks, I appreciate them even more. The colors inspire me and I like that they were handmade and that there is no other pair like them in the world. (Just as there is no other mom like mine in world.)

I think cozy socks, especially colorful socks, can be inspiring, especially on a rainy, cold day like today!

Do you like cozy, colorful, plain, short or long socks? Do you have an inspiring sock story to tell?

23 comments:

  1. I am a crazy sock person too. I've also gotten my 8 year-old hooked. Santa put a bunch of the colorful "toe" socks in her stocking this year...hehe. I love that story about your mother. I am sure it did give her comfort. One of the teachers at my daughters school asks for new socks to donate to third-world countries. She was volunteering there in her youth and was surprised just how much they were needed. xo

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    1. Yes, socks are very important. They are a not-so-expensive comfort that can make a world of difference. So nice that your friend did this! Socks are a big Christmas/Holiday gift in my family too!

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  2. Great post. Socks are important. I have mainly black socks but they all have a different colour at the toes and heel. That way i can match them up more easily. I like your blog and will be back to visit again.

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    1. Matching up socks is important. From my experience, the dryer tends to eat many of my socks. Just another reason to get another pair! Glad you will be back!

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  3. I love cozy, warm socks. I wear them all winter. I don't have any as colorful and creative as the ones you show in the photo--they're beautiful!

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    1. Without cozy, warm socks in the winter, I don't know where I'd be!

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  4. If I could get a warm pair of socks for my birthday, Christmas, etc., I'd be in heaven.
    Now take my brother-in-law...he is serious when it comes to his socks. He has numbered the toes of each pair (of white socks) with indelible marker. That way, he never has a mismatch. In other words, a "2" goes with another "2" and so on.

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    1. Hi Al,

      Maybe you can put them on your Christmas/Birthday wishlist?! Wow! Do the same socks really need to have a partner? I have no problem there because all my socks are completely different! Whatever works, I guess!

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    2. He insists that his socks have what he calls the partner (I like that word) that they were assigned in the packaging. He thinks if they didn't it would mess up Western Civilization (frankly, I thought Snooki actually did that).

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    3. These socks were coupled for a reason and maybe it would be the end of Western Civilization to break them up! (he,he!)

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  5. I love cozy socks! I got some for Christmas. And I going to love your book. It arrived today and I can't wait to read it.

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    1. I got some for Christmas too! Hope you enjoy the book!

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  6. I work in an office so by day I wear either black or brown basic socks. But -- I knit socks to relax! And I make them in beautiful colors. Some wild, some basic, some striped, and I wear them when I'm not in "office appropriate" attire. You are right about socks being a comfort too. People beg me to knit them a pair because they are so comfortable when they are knit just for you, just your size. And the yarns are scrumptious and soft and they aren't too tight. I live in Oregon and my feet get so cold when it's rainy and gray. A nice pair of socks makes all the difference.

    This may make you laugh if you don't already know, but there is a Sock Summit for Knitters: http://www.socksummit.com/

    They rent out the Convention Center in Portland and people come from all over the country to attend. If you like to knit, it's a blast! So you aren't the only one who loves her socks! :)

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  7. I LOVE that there is a SOCK CONVENTION in Oregon! And I'd love to learn how to knit my own!

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    1. No better place to learn than sock summit! :) Find a local yarn store. They will teach you.

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  8. Ode to my Socks

    Mara Mori brought me
    a pair of socks
    which she knitted herself
    with her sheepherder’s hands,
    two socks as soft as rabbits.
    I slipped my feet into them
    as if they were two cases
    knitted with threads of twilight and goatskin,
    Violent socks,
    my feet were two fish made of wool,
    two long sharks
    sea blue, shot through
    by one golden thread,
    two immense blackbirds,
    two cannons,
    my feet were honored in this way
    by these heavenly socks.
    They were so handsome for the first time
    my feet seemed to me unacceptable
    like two decrepit firemen,
    firemen unworthy of that woven fire,
    of those glowing socks.

    Nevertheless, I resisted the sharp temptation
    to save them somewhere as schoolboys
    keep fireflies,
    as learned men collect
    sacred texts,
    I resisted the mad impulse to put them
    in a golden cage and each day give them
    birdseed and pieces of pink melon.
    Like explorers in the jungle
    who hand over the very rare green deer
    to the spit and eat it with remorse,
    I stretched out my feet and pulled on
    the magnificent socks and then my shoes.

    The moral of my ode is this:
    beauty is twice beauty
    and what is good is doubly good
    when it is a matter of two socks
    made of wool in winter.

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    1. Thanks Peter, for sending along this socks poem from Pablo Neruda! It's a good one!

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  9. I love socks. Wish I could learn to knit them but until I do I will buy the crazy tye dyed ones and whatever other crazy ones I can find.

    Sock Convention sounds like a lot of fun!

    xoxo

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    1. Hi Karen!

      Yes, it does! I guess you can learn how to knit socks there! See above!!!

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  10. I like colorful playful socks too. I have a pair in the style you show, given to me by my younger son this Christmas, and I have purple socks with tiny monkeys on them, and all kinds of animals and flowers. They cheer me up and lots of people compliment me when I wear them.

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  11. I love it Terra! It think if the socks may you happy, they are bound to make others happy too! It's surprising how something so simple as socks can cheer us up!

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  12. I love cozy socks in winter.
    Polka Dot Sock is also my favorite when I am at my office.

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