There are many ways to approach a hand-knit garment. One common approach is to treat every knit item, at every stage of its development, as if it were of heirloom quality. This approach involves ensuring each hand knit item is made with the utmost care and attention to detail, with good, high-quality yarn, using carefully considered and executed techniques. This approach treats hand knit garments almost as if they were museum pieces, so as to extend their longevity for decades.
I am not of this school of thought.
I like to make my own stuff. I like being self-reliant. A few times a year I like to pack everything that I need into a 65 liter backpack and wander into the woods for days and days. I carry everything out that I carry in, so reducing the amount of stuff that I bring in the first place becomes key. There are a few schools of thought to approaching this problem.
One common approach is to minimize and aggressively re-use the clothes you bring. I’m not entirely of this school of thought. I try to do all of my most sweaty, active activity in one outfit to keep the real stank centralized. I like to have several layers for bumming around camp and I like to keep one outfit entirely segregated from the rest just for sleeping in. This approach gives me the freedom to move about as I please during the day, but when it’s time to snuggle into the mummy bag at night, I want the clothes I wear to be as clean as is possible. When you’re spending a week in the backcountry, clean becomes relative. That’s where camp socks come in.
The current camp socks are made of a green merino-nylon blend with a vining pattern up foot and cuff. They are warm and cozy and ideal for sleeping in. I wouldn’t hike in them, because like most hand-knit socks they are just a smidge too loose for wearing under trail runners. This pair can’t really get wet, because they are pretty dense and holds onto its moisture, they really do take too long to dry. They weigh a hefty 2.55 ounces. A behemoth considering a crew-height pair of Smartwool hiking socks weighs in at .9 ounces. They never leave my sleeping bag, they never leave the tent, and they never touch dirt.
This particular pair I finished around a campfire in Bewabic State Park last spring. Since then they’ve joined me at Isle Royale National Park and L’Anse Township Campground, both in Michigan, and at Buckhorn State Park in Wisconsin.
At Buckhorn State Park, where I finished my first two solo overnighters in late September 2019, rain kept me in my tent for about 24 hours with few breaks. Normally, this would be a dreary way to camp if I didn’t have comfy cozy toes the whole time. I read through every book I had brought and despite the weather I never once got too chilly or damp.
These are just the prototype for camp socks. Ideally, I’d find a less absorbent, equally warm yarn I can make into an even lighter weight pair of socks for camp snoozing. This is the first in what will likely be a lifelong project.
Pattern: Little Minx
Yarn: I have no idea, I lost the label, please forgive me.
