Monday, September 10, 2007

Socks that Rock Rant

What the *^&%! is up with this Socks That Rock stuff?

First, google it. You will see evidence of acolytes devout enough to rival the world's major religions. You look at the pictures and see pretty socks in pretty colors and think, "I wouldn't mind making a pair of socks out of that". If you dig a little deeper, you find out that people who haven't yet knitted with STR are considered "virgins". I swear!

So you think, gee, if its this popular, I should be easily able to go get myself some. So you go to the website and look at the retailer list and see there are 16 - that is SIXTEEN - yarn shops in America and Canada where you can buy this fabled stuff. Imagine my surprise that there was one in Michigan - but thats as far east as they come.

I then clicked on "retail info" and found out that they had a WAITING LIST just to sell their products in your shop (apparently, they can't supply more than 16 shops and their Rockin' Sock Club, famously shut down by some well-meaning better business bureau who couldn't believe that thousands of women paying $250 for a "sock club" wasn't a scam). And that to be on this waiting list, you have to reply to their little questionnaire, including "a current class and teacher bio" and "...any other point of interest you would like us to CONSIDER". CONSIDER!!!! You have to be judged by these people to see if you're good enough to sell their yarns. What a bunch of hogwash.

I was really trying to avoid swearing on my blog but I am very, very tempted to say "F***ing elitist B****es!" Right??? I mean, come on! This is YARN and KNITTING, this isn't haute couture (Fashion Week is taking place in Bryant Park right now, meaning that normal people can't enjoy the park since its been turned into a tent colony for hosting the fashionistas and the - I'm going to say it! - ELITE of the world). And its SOCK YARN. I love to knit socks, I do, but I can get oodles of beautiful, glorious sock yarns most anywhere (even from MY LYS), without supporting a clearly exclusionary yarn company.

Oh, and did I mention that one skein of this holy grail of yarndom is only 360 yards - meaning you're basically knitting adult anklets, because you're not getting a very long calf section (fyi, most two socks per skein yarns are over 400 yards).

I told you this was a rant.

And, all that said, if I can get into the Rockin' Sock Club next year, I'm totally doing it. Even though I rarely wear socks.

A girl's got to see what the fuss is about, right?

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