Crimson Pride

A long time ago, way back in the summer of 2009, I went with Justin to his University of Alabama New Student Orientation.  Living in NH, this required airplane travel and some activities to entertain myself.  I decided I needed some socks, socks that would be worthy of this important step in my son's life.  I found some yarn in what I thought could pass as his school color and cast on a pair of socks.  That little project bag would be easy to throw in my bag and I could carry it all over campus.  Everything that came in the mail for him that spring and summer was proudly marked "You Are UA" and so my socks were named.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23337082@N08/4084625690/in/photostream/

Fast forward to the Spring of 2014 and it was time for my boy to graduate!  There are so many memories of his time at UA.  The friends he made, the fun he had, the tornado, instructors/professors who made him nuts and question what he was doing, and one's that inspired him and reaffirmed that what he was doing was about the coolest thing ever. There was living away from home and living with people who he didn't choose which required him to learn some new life skills.  There was also living with his friends and having the time of his life, which also required him to learn some new life skills :-)  No matter how I looked at it, this was a big deal and an important occasion. Again, attending graduation required air travel and entertainment for it.  You guessed it, Momma needed some new socks to mark this event!

There is a yarn store in Tuscaloosa called Serendipity Needleworks.  Justin went there just before Christmas vacation because I had heard that they had yarn dyed by Lorna's Laces in an exclusive color called Crimson Pride, which truly is the colors of UA.  I had been teasing him that I NEEDED some of this yarn, because, well..... I needed Game Day socks! LOL The very lovely ladies who work there helped him pick out just what I was hoping for.  I didn't have time to make those socks before the football season was over, but it gave me the perfect yarn to use for Graduation Socks.

Crimson Pride Socks.  I think the name says it all!

The pattern is Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder.  It's a free pattern and an easy pattern. It was as simple as a plain vanilla sock but the bit of texture added just enough interest that I didn't get bored. I did substitute my preferred slip-stitch heel flap flap.

And I substituted my preferred toe decrease rate too.  Not because I think it's better, but because I think I knit on auto-pilot, or maybe I should call it auto-knit :-)

I love these socks!  I love what they represent, I love that I knit them while I was traveling for this event, that they went all over town with me graduation weekend, that I knit on them in his apartment and at the Ski Lake.  I love these socks almost as much as I love my son.

Can I get a ROLL TIDE!!!