A Word About Bootsocks.

I have a feeling that "boot socks" mean different things to different people. To me, they are not just "socks that look good with boots". They are a working sock! A boot sock should be a little roomy so that you can fit a sock liner in. If you've never worn boot socks with a sock liner....oh my goodness, your feet are missing out. A liner is a very fine sock made of cotton, or sometimes silk. It wicks the moisture away from your foot and then your woolly boot sock will absorb it. So your feet stay warm and dry! The liner also provides the friction cushion, so that any rubbing is between the boot sock and the liner...not your foot. So blisters are uncommon with liners and boot socks. So that's why when I write a "boot sock" pattern they will be a little roomy. I'm thinking that just going down 1/2 size on the needles would probably remove the need for a liner if you don't want to use them. But try it, just once! When you're out in the cold, with your boots on and a lot of walking to do. It is amazing how well boot socks and liners work together and how much more comfy feet can be!

27 Knots Boot Socks

Subway Boot Socks

Fiddlehead Reversible Boot Socks

These patterns available here: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/moira-engel

Weather and Wool and Socks...oh my!

April 12 / 2014
I learned a new word today…pluvial…it means “long periods of wet weather or climate”! I looked it up because “Pluvialphile” was listed on Facebook as someone who loves or finds peace in the rain! That’s me! I get cranky if the sun shines for too many days! I guess it’s my Irish genes or that fact that I've had skin cancer twice. I know that my pasty skin will never have a golden glow. Nope, it’s red, peel, pink….pasty. Living on the West (wet) Coast is perfect. Enough sun to break the monotony of constant gloom, then back to cloud and rain. This area of British Columbia is home to a northern rain-forest, yup rain-forest. Plus we have an ocean! Certainly a lot of wet and that’s what brings us to wool. Wool has an amazing ability to keep you warm even if it is wet. Synthetics just don’t cut it in wet weather. Polar Fleece for example, nice if it’s chilly but forget it if it gets wet. It reverts to its plastic bottle ancestry and forgets to keep you warm. If you keep your head covered in wool, torso and feet the weather doesn't have to stop you. Which is a good thing, because in BC , if you don’t go out in the rain you often don’t go out at all!
I have to admit that even if I don’t like sunshine, I really do like weather! I have a little weather station on my desk that measures barometric pressure, humidity and temperature. A good storm has me at my window…thunder and lightening and I’m out on the street! I know that’s not smart, my husband says I lack a fundamental survival instinct! I love a good wind storm too! Out here it’s measured in nautical miles per hour….that’s “Knots”! So when I designed my latest boot sock pattern with weather, wet and wind in mind, I had to name them “27 Knots”. Why 27 you ask?? Because 27 knots is gale force and if you look at the socks the cable looks kind of like it’s blowing away!


27Knots