I have come to the conclusion that my sock drawer is going to need a refresh after this winter and, with this firmly in mind, I have been sorting through my stash to see which yarns I should use. Now, I will point out that my title “Six Socks for 2021” has been chosen with a view to alliteration over accuracy – I mean six pairs of socks rather than six individual socks. Now I have started thinking about it, I wonder if I should aim for twenty-one socks (ten and a half pairs), but I’m not quite that crazy. So, here is how I think it’s going to go.

1 West Yorkshire Spinners “Bullfinch”

I unpicked the sock I’d started with this because I hadn’t gone far enough to be committed to the original and because I really want this one to be my Christmas Eve cast-on. That way, I can have a brand new pair of socks to celebrate New Year’s Day and get the year off to a good start.

2 Noodle Soup Yarns “Vivid Firmament”

Over the summer, I toyed with the idea of not making socks with this yarn, but it is going to be socks. The beautiful deep colours in this yarn make me want to knit it in the depths of winter, so this is going to be a good one to work on during January and into February.

3 Noodle Soup Yarns “Rise of the Jellyfish”…. again

By the time we get to March/April I’m going to want to work on spring-like colours and re-knitting the Rise of the Jellyfish socks will be a good start. This time, I’m going to take more care and make sure they fit me.

4 Noodle Soup Yarns “Speckled Eggs”

The colours in this one are very similar to “Rise of the Jellyfish”, just a bit more pastel. This will be lovely to be knitting in May/June. One I get to this point I reckon I’m going to need a break – either a complete rest, or some time to catch up.

5 & 6 Noodle Soup Yarns Un-named and Question Mark

It strikes me that this un-named colour combination from Noodle Soup Yarns has all those lush, plummy vibes going on that will make it perfect to knit through the end of August and into September. All mellow fruitfulness and so on. Which leaves me with Question Mark and that is not a yarn, it is a ‘?’. I only have five sock yarns waiting in my stash which means the sixth pair of socks is, as yet, an unknown quantity. This allows for a little sock yarn gift – either from others or from myself – somewhere along the line in 2021.

As to patterns, well, we all know the socks will be my plain, vanilla, top-down, heel flap and gusset, basic toe shape socks in either basic stocking stitch or a rib. I have wild ideas about how I could incorporate some texture stitches to change this up a bit, but I know in my heart that it isn’t likely to happen.

I am not intending to work as intensely on my knitting as I did in 2020, but I should be able to make a couple of carefully-selected garment projects as well as the six pairs of socks. I’ve set such targets before and failed miserably, so I don’t necessarily expect this to come to fruition. I’m happy to frame it as an aspiration, rather than a goal: I aspire to completing six pairs of socks and a couple of carefully-selected garments in the coming year.

Before I go, did you want a little update on the progress with my cushion cover? It’s going great! I was able to wind the canvas up a little on the frame and, although I still have acres of the pale colours yet to go, the darker areas are in sight. I am really enjoying working on this, especially as I’ve been listening to some audio books as I stitch. Most recently, these have been two Neville Shute novels – “The Chequer Board” and “Pied Piper”. “The Chequer Board” was one of my dad’s favourites and I don’t think I’ve ever read or listened to it before. Neville Shute’s writing is very much of its time and his novels will not suit anyone who is offended by the fact that the world was very different back in the 1940s and 1950s. However, he’s a really good writer and his novels do illustrate very well that language and cultures change, yet people largely carry on exhibiting the same strengths and flaws as they ever did.