The trouble with socks: Part 1

Apparently I have been knitting for almost a quarter of a century, a terrifying thought (not that I've been knitting for that long, more that I've been doing anything for that long)! But I have never knitted a sock. It's never appealed:

1. You can buy perfectly good socks from supermarkets at about £5 for 7 pairs; why would I want to spend more than that on the yarn to make a single pair of socks?!
2. I cannot cope with non-matching pairs of socks, which means either knitting single colour socks or carefully winding off an amount of yarn so the socks match, neither of which appeals
3. All my socks are black. This makes sorting the washing easier!
4. I have huge feet (UK size 10, for reference). That's a lot of plain stocking stitch in the round, which would get boring
5. You have to knit two and they have to be the same
6. I knit quite loosely, so will need to use tiny needles to get an appropriate gauge
7. No one sees your socks

So why, a few days ago, did I find myself in a yarn shop (the lovely Harbour Yarns in Seaham) ogling sock yarn? Well, in the past year, I have had several people around me quietly enthuse about sock knitting. It's one friend's go to project - she always has a pair of socks on the go and they live in her handbag so she's never without a project. Another friend likes to give them as gifts. And apparently it's rubbed off. If so many people enjoy it, why shouldn't I have a go?

And so I purchased a single ball of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4-ply in Blue Tit. It's self-patterning, so I will need to wind a bit off to get the socks to match, but not too much. I have a cheerleader in my Monday night knitting group, so hopefully I won't get anything too wrong, it's always good to have someone to check things are going in the right direction! And I'm looking forward to it. No really, the scepticism has been put to one side, and I'm going to give it a proper go.