Glass socks

Dear Page,

Having finished the Shetland Shawl and not being quite ready to take on another big project, I decided to use up some of my scraps of Lily Sugar N' Cream cotton yarn that I had previously used in making bibs. I decided to try to make a "sock" for a glass. I know that sounds somewhat strange and perhaps stupid to some folks but you know how cold your hand can get holding a glass of ice tea or soda with ice in it? On top of that, if the glass sweats, your hand get wet as well as cold. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to try to design a glass "sock." The first one I made, I started with a crocheted bottom to serve as a coaster as well as insulation and picked up stitches around the "coaster" when it became the right size. Then I switched to knitting and proceeded to knit a 1 X 1 rib for about an inch, then switch to stockingnette in a contrasting but coordinating color for another inch, and finally ended back with ribbing in the original color for maybe 1/3 of an inch. Here is the result:

This design works really great on a square bottom glass but I also have glasses with rounded bottoms and this "sock" would look pretty silly on it just like a sock that bags around an ankle when it is too loose. So, back to the drawing board....

For the second "sock" I decided to use some Sock It To Me Esprit which is also a cotton yarn but with the added bonus of stretch! This time I started at the top, knit an inch of 2 X 2 ribbing then switched to stockingnette stitch for another inch or so then started decreasing rows, much like a knit cap, until I had just a few stitches left to bind off. This is how the second "sock" turned out:

As you can see, the "sock" hugs the rounded bottom very nicely. I will knit more of this type in the future as I really like the way it turned out. If I knit the square bottom "sock" again, I will make a couple of changes.

And now... I have to get back to knitting on my Wisp!

Love,
Mom