Socks, socks, socks

How I started out (again) knitting socks...

If you have never knit socks, start! They are addictive! They are fast, you never have large areas of the same thing, so it never gets boring. You know, you knit a little, then you have a heel, then you knit a little, then you have toes, etc. Also, people really like them! They make great gifts (if you can part with them once you finished them). And there are all kinds of great yarns out there for socks, and all kinds of great patterns. I knit my first pair of socks in Middle School. Then I didn't make any socks for a long time, until fairly recently.

I didn't really know what kind of yarn to use for socks, but I had this cotton yarn around that was fairly thin, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
Well, they came out thick and stiff and nobody likes them. But at least I got to practice making socks and felt more confident to buy some nicer yarn to give it another go. So I found this online store, where they sell their yarn by categories, so even a greenhorn like me can figure out which yarn to buy for socks.

So I bought this really funky looking yarn at Knit Picks called "Felici," which comes in all kinds of colorways and made another pair of socks. By the way, since I had not knit any socks in a long, long time, I didn't really know how :). Also, the last time I used knitting instructions, they were in another language, so I didn't really know how to "read" English knitting patterns. I tried to find a pattern online that was easy enough for me to figure out. I basically found a bunch of different patterns (here, for instance, is a really cool site called "Socks 101") to pick and choose from (all those lovely people who put their patterns on the web may forgive me for not giving them credit, since it has been a while, and I didn't save the links I "peeked" from originally) and here is how I ended up knitting my first good pair of socks:

Basic Sock Pattern

The following stitch numbers are for fingering weight yarn (e.g., Knit Picks Felici or Essential), size medium men’s socks.

Leg

Cast on 72 (divisible by 3) stitches. Divide evenly onto 4 needles, so there are 18 stitches on each needle. Join into the round. The pattern for the ribbing is *k3, p3*, repeat. Repeat until the leg of the sock is as long as you like it.

Heel

Place half the stitches (two needles) onto a stitch holder or leave them on the two needles. These are the instep stitches and will be worked later. The remaining two needles are the heel stitches. Combine them onto one needle. Turn your work so that the wrong side (purls) is facing you.

Heel Flap

Row 1: sl1, p35, turn

Row 2: sl1, k35, turn

Repeat rows 1 and 2 a total of 14 times, then work row 1 again. You have now worked a total of 29 rows.

Turn the Heel

Row 1: sl1, k21, ssk, turn

Row 2: sl1, p9, p2tog, turn

Row 3: sl1, k9, ssk, turn

Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until you have worked all the heel stitches.

You should have 10 heel stitches remaining on your needle. Turn your work so the right side of the sock is facing you. Knit across the 10 heel stitches.

Gussets

Please 5 heel stitches onto needle #1. Place the 36 instep stitches onto two needles again (#2 and #3), if you put them on stitch holders earlier. Place the remaining 5 stitches onto needle #4.

With needle #1, pick up and knit 15 stitches along the side of the heel flap. Work the stitches on needles #2 and #3. Pick up and knit 15 stitches along the other side of the heel flap and knit the 5 stitches from needle #4. The beginning of the round is now at the center of the sole.

Begin the gusset decreases as follows:

Round 1:

Needle #1: knit to the last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1

Needle #2 and #3: knit

Neddle #4: k1, ssk, knit to the end of the needle.

Round 2:

Knit all stitches on all needles.

Repeat these two rounds until you have decreased to 70 stitches.

Foot

Knit until the foot of the sock measures approximately 2 inches less than the desired length.

Toe

Round 1:

Needle #1: knit to the last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1

Needle #2: k1, ssk, knit to the end of the needle

Needle #3: knit to the last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1

Needle #4: k1, ssk, knit to the end of the needle

Round 2:

Knit all stitches on all needles.

Repeat these two rounds until 42 stitches remain.

Repeat round 1 until all stitches are gone.

Abbreviations:

K knit

K2tog knit two together

P purl

P2tog purl two together

Sl slip

Ssk sl, sl, k these 2 tog

Enjoy!

Here are two more pairs of socks I knit for my husband with the same pattern. For the first pair, I used "Essential" by Knit Picks (colorway: Black Tweed). The other one is grey and black "Risata," also from Knit Picks. Did I mention that I really like Knit Picks. And no, they are not paying me.