The Zen of Sock Knitting

I don't know exactly when I learned to knit. My mother is talented in many ways, but not at the needle arts. She is actually stumped as to where I came by this talent. However, when I showed a desire to learn, she found me teachers among friends and relatives, and bought me books and supplies.
 Though I had been knitting for a long time, I had never knitted a sock. Why would any one want to knit socks? You can buy them at most department stores for far less than a ball of sock yarn. They are thick and ugly.

Then, about 10 years ago, I got very sick. It took months for the doctors to figure out what the best course of treatment should be. I was mostly housebound, and going stir crazy. At the time, I was in my counted cross stitch phase, but holding an embroidery needle made my hands ache. A friend was going on a quick trip to the yarn shop and asked if I would like to come along for the ride. I figured it would be a change of scenery, so I went. Just inside the door of the store, I discovered a ball of self-striping sock yarn. I just had to try it, so I came home with a set of DPN's, 2 balls of Regia yarn, and a pattern. By supper time, I was hooked. 

My first pair of socks were not great. The heels looked kind of wonky, and they looked way too long to fit any one. However, I gained a sense of peace, while knitting those socks. Just going round and round was calming. They were small enough to fit in my purse, and take with me for long waits at the hospital. They fit into my life. And when they were finished, a certain young man, with very long feet, said "Hey, those are neat, Mom, can I have them?" 

My health started to improve shortly after I started knitting socks. My doctors take all the credit, but I think it was the Zen of Sock Knitting.
 

This winter's crop of socks. On the left, are my version of Grandma Coco's CocoMan Socks and on the right are a simple pair of my own design.