it was sometime last spring or early summer that tish sent me the call for manuscripts she had found, for short stories about philadelphia and by philadelphia writers, for an upcoming anthology. so i submitted one, and told tish if they chose my story, i would make her a pair of socks.
lots to say about these socks. everything but the red is koigu. i know how much people love koigu, and i get it. i personally shy away from thinner yarns, or yarns that look very plied. however. if you've gotta. or you wanna. this stuff is nice enough that sometimes you stop knitting and just look at the strand in front of you.
again, the red is something else softer and fatter, but i threw the label away. the colors here -- i have been in love from the very start.
tish is a big woman. the socks are made to fit her -- and are also more of what i'd call "hostess socks", like you'd call something "hostess pajamas" -- for wearing in the house when receiving casual, intimate guests and feeling lovely. they are probably not gonna work well under a shoe -- kinda thick -- and i tried to incorporate a turkish sock chart and a "western" heel, while also knitting from the toe up. i don't like patterns that require picking up stitches along a heel flap. i muddled through that with these. the sock with the red in the heel is, in that area, a little larger than the other sock -- to accommodate some scarring on tish's ankle, from when she got her feet caught between rocks while crossing a river in india, to get to her guru. back in the day.
the milagra charms were a gift to me, and i am happy to be able to pass a few of them on. (i did keep some favorites.) i did a picot-edge at the top of the socks, and there you go.
as for the book project, i believe it is due out this summer -- i'm looking in the mail for hardcopy galleys now. i am proud to be a part of a project that links me in this way to the city of philadelphia, a city that i absolutely adore. since i was a teenager here, i would sometimes get "crushes" on certain streets or intersections, and go way out of my way to walk there. i still do it. and ended up with a partner in life who feels the same way. there are evenings we just drive or walk around town, visiting favorite corners, trees, or doorways. this is the city of my heart -- and of edmund bacon, le cabaret mélange, and a truly dramatic and dynamic city council. it is the city where you can sometimes see randall "tex" cobb putting ointment on his feet in liberty one, or trying to flag down cars to give him a jump outside superfresh at tenth and south. it is an awesome city.
and i will be proud to have a short story associated with a project in this city's name! but, wouldn't have known about it at all, without tish out in san francisco to give me the tip. thank you tish! i hope they are what you wanted. (and i know you wanted to be "surprised" and might stumble across this entry before your socks arrive, but even if you do, i bet you're still surprised.)