I had a goal for the winter break – I wanted to learn to knit socks. This goal was planned back in the summer but I wanted some concentrated time, with no other projects, available before I started this. Socks seem complicated. Socks have to fit. Socks were going to require some trial and error and attention to detail. Did I mention that you have to make two and they need to be the same? Yep. This was my goal – learn to knit a pair of socks.
When we were in Sonoma, I stopped into a yarn store and asked about a good yarn to learn how to knit socks with. The very nice lady at the store suggested I start with a worsted weight. If you think about yarn, this is the weight you think about. It’s average, middle of the road, not heavy, but not light. Sock yarn is thinner, finer, more fiddly, so learning to knit socks on sock yarn might be a challenge. Okay. Yarn in hand and a pattern to look up, I was all set.
Except. Except by the time December and break rolled around, I lost the pattern name she suggested. So I scoured Ravelry and found Cottage Socks. Not only are these for the right weight yarn and beginner friendly, they came with videos! Step by step video instruction. Perfect.
So I set out on my quest to learn to knit socks and promptly became frustrated. I’ve knit in the magic loop method before – I’ve made dozens of cat toys with it – but I just could not get it to work for the socks. Not one to give up, I searched the internet for answers. Double Pointed Needles were a popular choice, but those look hard. Two circular needles was one answer and there was the “don’t try this they are awful” 9 inch circular needle choice. Of course, that is the one I went with.
9 inch circular needles are tiny. Tip to tip they are – as the name implies – 9 inches. The actual needles are MUCH smaller than regular needles and every review I read said they are really hard to work with. But … they totally worked for me. No gap at the beginning of the round, easy to hold and, and for the flat parts and the toes … well, I just used a second regular needle. It worked.
In about a week, I had a new pair of wool socks. They fit, they look cute, Tigger approved, and they pretty much matched. I had one issue with the cuff (forgot to count rows when making the first one) but otherwise, they are great.
Socks are also addictive to knit. There are enough progress markers that give you the little dopamine hit that you just want to keep going (cuff done, leg done, heel done etc.). You have set places that you can stop and put the work down and pick up later. They are small, compact projects and best part – you get a new pair of socks when you are done.
So … if 2019 was the year of the sweater, 2020 will be there year of the sock! My goal is to knit one pair of socks per month (or more when I’m not working). Let’s see how it goes.
Happy knitting.
Sixteen Paws 