There is a story behind each pattern in this collection. A story of my depression and anxiety, of my life, and how I coped (or didn’t), and my continued search for balance and joy and love. Knitting became a major source of comfort and coping for me as I managed (or didn’t) my most recent experience of acute depression. As I traveled this path I spent a lot of time listening to the AC Newman album Shut Down the Streets. Each pattern is named from a lyric from the album and there is a corresponding essay on my blog. I encourage you to read the essays, to listen to the album, and to knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises¹.

These socks were the first thing that I knit after my most recent wave of depression started. These socks were a beginning for me, an unfolding of something inside me, a thread of control, and they led me to this project of words and stitches which has come to mean so much to my recovery. They gave me something healthy to focus on when so much of my mind was spiraling out of control. And they’re really warm, and soft, and cozy, and everything I want my love for my girls to be.

They take one full skein (down to the last yards) of Ambiente, if you want to make a US big kid size 2. To make them smaller, just shorten them, to make them longer you will need more yarn. I used leftovers from other projects for the heel and toe, baby cashmerino is my favorite and it really doesn’t take much, maybe a quarter of a skein?

If you have questions, please let me know.

Kim