Socks

I learned about something new this week: anniversary reaction. As we come to the anniversary of the beginning of quarantine, it's hard to know how to feel. The last year has been a lot of things, sometimes all at the same time. How do you move through your day to day with the knowledge that so many people are suffering and so many have died? How do you deal with the constant changes and uncertainty and anger? I have zero answers for you, except to say we're all doing our best. We all have good days and we all have bad days.

One of the things the article discusses about anniversary reaction is the practice of reflecting on both the good and the bad from the last year. I was talking with my friend Anita yesterday and I told her one of the most ridiculous things I've adopted since moving to working remotely: I have to wear socks during the work day and I will put shoes on if I have a meeting with a member of senior leadership. 

This time last year, I had to keep up certain routines to help myself acclimate to working from home. I can't work in yoga pants every day because that's not me (I have since given myself permission to wear them occasionally, mostly on days when I don't have meetings). I like my work clothes, and I work for a company that has a pretty casual dress code, so I'm not wearing suits around my house. I dress up for presentations and when I lead certain meetings or teach a class. I don't wear a lot of makeup, and I basically wear none now.

But shoes are weird. I don't wear shoes when I'm home. I take my shoes off when I come in, and I don't see the need to wear shoes when I'm sitting around my house all day. BUT I struggled with the idea of being barefoot while at work. Yes, I know no one sees my feet, but it still feels weird. So I decided to wear socks every day. As I mentioned, if I'm in a meeting or presenting to senior leaders, I put shoes on. Again, I know they can't see me, but it seems more professional. My brain is a weird place. 

I've always worn fun socks. Target makes this incredibly easy with their $1 socks featuring unicorns, cats, unicorn cats, mermaids, otters, rainbows, and dinosaurs. I have an entire drawer full of amazing socks. I also have fun holiday socks and Gilmore Girls themed socks and girl power socks. So while I do wear socks, I never said they were plain and boring. 

Socks are hard to draw, which makes sense because feet and hands are hard to draw. I did my best. I'm not ready to draw a tiny dinosaur on a small sock, but know that I have at least four pairs of dinosaur themed socks. I'm currently wearing a pair featuring a unicorn driving a pink convertible. 

Details:
Stitches: back stitch and French knot
Thread palette: 

• Polka dot sock: DMC 310, C600 (3 strands)
• Star sock: DMC C444, C995 (2 strands)
• Meow: DMC 310 (3 strands), Sublime Stitching 402 (2 strands)
• Heart sock: Sublime Stitching 803 (2 strands), 703 (3 strands)