I am a lifelong barefooter. I have wonderfully healthy feet and ankles as a result - they're broad, well shaped, not deformed from ill fitting shoes or heels, the nails are healthy. My preferred footwear for years was a good pair of hiking sandals, year round.
So, why is my time so taken up these days with the knitting of socks?
Perhaps I'm just an awkward sod.
But no. About a year and a half ago now, my trusty hiking sandals failed me. A strap broke. Being Autumn, sandals were thin on the ground (see what I did there?) so I was forced to fit my feet into shoes. Literally in years, the only shoes I'd worn had been a pair of 'high days and holy days' black heels which covered both funerals and job interviews with aplomb, and now I found myself with a pair of black Birkenstock mary janes.
I found out within 15 minutes that my normally tough feet did NOT have the required calluses to go bare in Birks, and found out within days that the commercial socks I bought were NOT fun to wear on a daily basis.
And, well, come on! Knitting is what I do. So, armed with a pattern, yarn and needles, I set out to self sufficiently clothe myself.
Eight pairs later, I have enough sock yarn stashed, and patterns bookmarked to keep me going for about 5 years, at the rate of one pair per month. And I do not knit that fast.
Self sufficiency in socks has been achieved!
And, you know something? For the past two winters, my feet have stayed warm and dry. And I end up wondering how come I didn't do this sooner? Sometimes it's okay not to be superhuman tough, it seems.
But I still call myself a barefooter. Because I'm an awkward sod.
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