Knitting socks

I've always wanted to knit socks. Several years ago, my mum knitted a pair for me, and then two more pairs as I really liked them.  I 'helped' her by knitting rounds when she was on the leg or foot bit, as that's straightforward.  I handed the needles back to her as soon as anything more complicated was required.  I always wanted to be able to do it by myself, but I just never really got round to learning.

Just before Christmas, the boyfriend and I were in Hobbycraft (a dangerous store!) and in their yarn section they had sock knitting kits for sale.  There and then I decided I would knit socks, and soon.  I phoned home immediately, to check what yarn I needed and how much, and if I needed any needles.  Then, purchase complete (it was Sirdar Crofter DK, in (I think) Skye), I waited until I went back to my parents' for Christmas.

Mum had unearthed her foolproof sock pattern, and the 2.5mm double pointed needles (dpns).  Tiny, pointy things!  (Every cat Mum has ever had has had to get used to sitting on her lap whilst being poked by a whole variety of knitting needles.)  I then took myself off to my room to try and knit it, occasionally coming downstairs to ask for help (or texting her asking if she could come upstairs because I didn't want to move for fear of losing a stitch/needle, or if I was being mercilessly attacked by a kitten or two and my sock needed saving).  Most of it Mum could sort out quite easily, but there was one bit towards the toe of the first sock where I went completely wrong and dropped my stitch markers without noticing, so I had no chance of being able to work out where I was!  I left my sock with Mum, and then she worked it out before I saw her earlier this month.

A sock!

So, on to my second.  It actually went well, as I'd been shown how to do various things such as pick up stitches, and I'd learned that yes it was important to put the stitch markers in the right place and remember if they were one stitch to the left or right of the start of the round, and also remember which stitch marker marked which place.  I then changed the stitch markers so they were actually different from one another.  A few text messages to mum later, and I had a pair!

These were slightly too short in the foot, and slightly too long in the leg for me: I'm a size 7-8 and these are probably more of a 6.  I know they would stretch every so slightly, but the heel was in the wrong place and would just have annoyed me.  So, on to the next pair!  

The pattern works in 4s, so with a bit of maths you can work out how many stitches you need to make a larger or smaller sock.  

These photos were taken when I was on the sofa underneath a blanket.  I've done the leg bit and the heel, and I'm now knitting the foot. 

Aren't my owl stitch markers lovely?  I bought them from ebay a while ago.  The owl on the branch on the right marks the start of the round, and the owl on the left (and an identical one on the other side) mark where the stitches are for the increases and decreases of the heel and toe.  Sock patterns are very clever!

Here is my finished sock!  It is too big (sigh) and does look a bit odd, but I think too big is better than too small!  These socks were always destined to be bed socks/lounging round the flat socks, so they don't need to fit perfectly.  I know now where the socks are too small, and too big, so hopefully the second sock I knit to go with this one is somewhere in the middle.  The first pair is being given to a friend who has smaller feet than me, and another friend has asked for a pair.  I know she has smaller feet than I do, so I'm hoping the normal pattern will work for her.  The wool for that arrived yesterday (it, along with my bluey green socks is Sirdar Snuggly Baby Crofter, mine is Archie, 0166).


So, overall, just about a success!  I'm getting there, and the more I do the better I'll get.  Hopefully, anyway!