Knitted striped socks
I finished my striped socks yesterday morning. I am pleased with how they turned out. I used a self-striping yarn from Patons Yarns and it was fascinating to see the stripes evolve as the socks knit up.
I did not really use a pattern for these socks. There are literally thousands of free sock patterns available on the internet, but you really don’t need them if you understand the basics of knitting socks. I started with a gauge swatch and used my foot measurements to determine the number of stitches I needed. The “how to” of this seems to be enough for a separate post, so I will place that in my queue for future topics.
I choose to do a picot hem at the top of the cuff, a 3 by 1 rib for the cuff and instep, a slipped stitched heel flap with a square heel turn. My mentors for these socks were Nancy Bush – I consulted her book “Knitting on the Road” for advice on the square heel and Cat Bordhi, whose book “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles” contains a wealth of information on how to knit socks.
Knitting socks on two circular needles
Holy cow! I just finished the first sock of my pair this afternoon (well I need to stitch up the toe). I love how that striped pattern turned out. Did you buy the yarn locally here?
Oh and could I take a look at that Cat Bordhi book this week by chance?
I haven’t knit any socks at all yet. When I consider the skills I have I think I could manage to knit socks, but when I consider the feet I have, I can’t believe that I could get them to fit.
Your socks are so pretty–I look at them, I sigh, and wish I could.
The beauty of hand-knit socks is that you can make them to fit your feet. I will be posting some how to’s and links for sock knitting in the next few weeks, so check back.