Finished: Baby Socks AND An Interview

Pattern: My own (I'll post it here if there's any interest)
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon), colorway Gulfstream, leftovers from a skein used for another pair of socks
Needles: bamboo US 1 (2.25 mm) dpns
Started/Completed: March 23/March 27
Recipient: Baby Oliver -- welcome to the world!

Baby Oliver was born just last week to some friends of ours and upon hearing the news of his arrival I immediately went into baby-knitting mode. I'd knit a hat for his older brother about a year and a half ago; never being one for the matchy-matchy look in children, I thought this baby should have a different knitted garment. I knew I could whip up a pair of socks in just a matter of days, so here they are. I used leftovers from some other socks, which is my normal way of dealing with sock yarn scraps. At first I tried to use what was left of the Knit Picks Memories my Sockret Pal sent me (which I used for my Monkey socks), but alas, there was not enough. So the first half sock in that colorway was ripped and these were cast on.

This pattern is just a basic rib/stockinette combo. These are probably on the large side for a newborn, but at least I know he'll grow into them some day (and when he grows out of them, his mom can keep them as a reminder of how small he once was!).

Now, I bet you're wondering, just what is this interview alluded to in the title of this post? If you've been reading the blogs long enough, surely you've happened upon this meme once or twice. A blogger asks another blogger five questions, to which he or she must respond on his or her blog. Said blogger then often asks his or her readers if any of them would like to be interviewed and the cycle continues.

Earlier today I read Miriam's answers to her own interview questions and asked her to "interview" me. Here are her questions (quite good ones, I might add!) and my answers.

1. What is your favorite sock pattern?

Wow, that's a toughie right off the bat. It's hard for me to pick an absolute favorite sock pattern, because there are so many that I've enjoyed and so many I still want to knit. If we're going strictly by the number of times I've knit a pattern, then my most popular would be the Jaywalker (three pairs for me) and the Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock (two pairs for J, one pair for me, one pair for my dad).

2. How did you get your name? Are you named after anyone? Is there a story behind it?

In the Jewish faith, it is tradition to name children after relatives who have passed away. Usually the Hebrew names match up, but often the English names begin with the same letter as well. I am named after a Celia (whose exact relation to me I always forget) and a Dina (one of my great-grandmothers on my father's side). An interesting side note to this is that my parents had planned to name me something completely different -- Lauren Rebecca -- but dropped that idea after they mentioned the name to my grandmother and heard complete silence at the other end of the phone line.

3. How do you knit? English, Continental, combined? And who taught you to knit?

I have always knit English (i.e., I'm a thrower) but have been teaching myself a bit of continental in order to do stranded knitting two-handed. For years I was also knitting combined, even working the stitches properly so they weren't twisted, without realizing it. It was only in the past year that I realized what I was doing, and only in about the last six months have I started wrapping my purl stitches the more traditional way.

My aunt taught me to knit when I was about 7 or 8 years old, with some horribly fugly orange acrylic yarn and aluminum needles. Although I can't remember, I presume she taught me to purl as well; the rest of my knitting skills I've taught myself through books and the help of the Internets. I had a very weird role-reversal moment over Thanksgiving, when the aunt was in town. I took her to one of my LYSs to get a circular needle and showed her how to knit in the round -- she'd knit with circs before, but never connected her stitches to make a tube. (Next on my list is showing her how to make socks!)

4. What is your favorite food?

Another difficult question for me, as I love food and have favorites for different moods. Generally I prefer savory comfort foods with lots of spices. I could eat pasta every night of the week, especially with a good tomato sauce and crusty bread. One of my favorites has always been eggplant parmigiana, although lately I've discovered that it doesn't really love me back. I also love Indian food, but I rarely eat it as J does not particularly enjoy ethnic cuisine.

5. If you could choose one (and only one) yarn to knit with over and over again, what would it be?

Isn't this question akin to asking a mother to pick a favorite child? There are so many yarns I love to knit with, and so many I've yet to try. If I could pick only one, however, it would be a sock yarn, as socks are, hands down, my favorite item to knit. Of the yarn with which I've had experience, I would say Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock is my favorite, although Socks That Rock is fast becoming a serious contender. Ask me this question again after I've gone through a few of my STR skeins and the answer might be different.

Now, would you like to be interviewed? Leave me a comment and I'll e-mail you five questions to answer on your blog (don't forget to leave me your e-mail address if I can't readily find it on your profile or blog!).