I learned how to knit socks and it was so much fun.
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Replies
Those turned out cute. Love how the striping turned out.
Chris
Thank you. It was Cascade Fixation yarn.
Those are so neat! I love them, they look so cozy and warm! Can I place and order? I think you did such a great job on them!!! Mary
Oh, thanks Mary. You make me smile.
If you can make tiny ones too, they would make darling Christmas decorations! Oh, and wouldn't they be cute on a mantel? I'd sure buy them at a craft mart!!! They are so darling. If I could knit, I'd be going crazy with those socks for everyone on my list. Mary
I have a pattern for some tiny ones, but I haven't tried it, yet. I need to dig it out of my papers. Good idea.
I love knitting socks and I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for this yarn. Great job!
Thank you. I ordered it from Onefineyarn.com, I believe.
Yummy warm socks. They turned out so well. Fun to knit with such bright wool. Bravo! Cathy
Yes, with this Pure and Simple pattern and #6 dpns, it made it easy for me. Now, the #3's, They are going to take forever, especially when I keep making mistakes and having to go back and fix them.
Practise makes perfect! You will find that you will enjoy the whole process even more as you make more of them. Try making the same pair a couple of times before you progress to smaller needles and yarn. You will be more comfortable with the whole process, and more adept with the needles by then. You will also make fewer mistakes, and will already be knitting much faster. Then it will not be as slow or frustrating when you switch to the finer yarns. Something to think about. Cathy
I do want to make some more of those. It was so much fun. The colors are pretty, also, in that yarn. Right now I am making another hat for GD.
Believe it or not, knitting with dpns in a finer gauge is easier than handling the larger needles. Some of the best sock yarns are made for finer needles. Keep it up, socks are a great pick-up project.
I am working on some now, on 3's and I know it will be a thinner sock, which is the kind I wear. I messed up and I dread trying to go back and fix it. Yuk.
How bad is the mess up? If it is only a small mistake, put it down to "spirit stitches" and keep on knitting. These are first projects, and mistakes are only natural. Only God makes perfection, and the rest of us aim for it. Later on, when you look back, you will be able to see just how far you have come, and how much you have improved and learned. Cathy
I like the way you think. I can't remember what the mistake was, because I started knitting hats and put it away. After this hat, I will look at it.
#3s? I knit most of my socks on #1s!
I'm with you on the fine needles! I've knit socks with wire and skewers both metal and wood (none of them really suitable but as the saying goes "anything in an emergency".)
I use bamboo needles for socks but I do have some really tiny steel needles that I'm going use for knitting some stockings out of cotton crochet thread to wear with my costumes.
Very neat, knitting from crochet cotton. I have made summer tops using four and five strands - that leads to insanity in a lace pattern!
I figure it will take all winter to knit the single strand of cotton for the long stockings, but they would be soooo authentic!
You will e surprised at how fast they go. Last winter I knitted long stockings for my DIL who dresses up for work but walks in -40F weather sometimes. They had a row of a tiny lace pattern up the back. Come to think of it, she never has said if she wears them!
You mentioned that you wear costumes...what kind? I'm just getting started in Civil War Reenactment and am looking for silk thread for knitting stockings and reticules. Any suggestions of suppliers? Thanks.
Well, I would like to knit socks that come from 1's, but I am just starting and I went down to a 3 from a 6. I will, eventually, try the 1's. I see they make beautiful socks.
When you are familiar with how socks are made and the ratio of stitches needed to make the heel compared to the total number of stitches, it's quite easy to customize socks regardless of yarn or needle size.I knit socks toes first which allows me to fit the socks as I go. I take notes as I knit the first sock, then I just use those notes to knit the second sock. This method allows me to knit socks using any yarn and any size needles without having to find instructions that will give me the right size sock.
Well, I wouldn't know where to start knitting it backwards. I have to follow a pattern.
I found instructions for knitting toes-first socks somewhere on the 'net a couple of years ago. I think that they are easier than top-first.
I'll have to look it up.
Bravo.
Thank you.
I like those socks! Did someone show you how to knit them, or did you learn on your own from reading or a video?
Here is the one that got me to realizing I could do this.http://www.royea.net/sockdemo1.html
Thanks so much fabricholic. Great in-process photos on that site.
You are welcome. Also, you might want to look at the videos on knittinghelp.com, because they have a good video on knitting the heel.
Aha! now you have to join the Sock Wars!!!!
(no, I don't do this, I can knit, but don't )
http://blog.oregonlive.com/knitting/2008/01/the_bloodthirsty_world_of_sock.html
Too funny! I have to admit, I think I'd be the gal who just sits at home, waits for her socks to arrive and then mail off a ball of yarn and a pair of needles to the person who "shot" me. I'm waayyy too busy knitting for family and friends to get into something like this.
Annie,
You are dangerous :) I was sipping a glass of wine when I read your answer and almost spewed it all over my computer, I was laughing so hard!
Judy
If you think that's a good one, go over to the "New Machine Review" thread and start reading the stories at the end of the thread. Cathy and I have comparing farming notes, which has segued into the trouble our kids used to get into.
I am not a fast knitter. I would lose big time.
I have problems getting the second sock finished in the same year the first one was started, or even the year after. I prefer mittens..... Cathy
I'm pretty good about socks and mittens, but I will bog down on big projects--like Rachel's shrug which I started last winter and now I'm finishing. It took about eight false starts to get the pattern sequence right again. That'll teach me to knit a sweater in anything but stocking stitch! At least I hadn't completely lost my notes, which are usually jotted down in a little notebook that I lose at least twice before any project is finished.
Annie, sometimes I think we are cut from a very similar cloth. LOL I lose my notes also. At least I used to..... Until I made the photocopier my friend. I copy the pattern, and slip it into those plastic cover sheets that you keep in a 3 ring binder. That goes into the project bag, with a pencil for taking notes, right on the copy. I can muck it up with notes, make changes, and keep track of where I am. And I can actually pin it to the project with a long stitch keeper to keep it from getting lost if it gets set aside for a while. I can recopy it later, and make permanent notes and save it in a Favorite Patterns binder later, or just put it in there for future reference. And the VERY BEST PART....It is easy to clean up my spilled tea or coffee off of! Cathy
You have a project bag?! My projects tend to get scattered around the house in baskets.
I tried the baskets, but the projects got full of cat hairs, from the darlings nesting in them, or full of things that the family put there because they did not know where else to put them. The bags keep the projects cleaner and are instantly portable for Dr visits or to take in the car. Cathy
I had to banish the cat to the great outdoors when she decided that she preferred the wood box to her litter box. She actually LIKES living outdoors and never tries to sneak into the house. I wind all my yarn into balls and put the working ball in one of my antique enamel bowls, which is then placed in the appropriate basket, with the notebook, needles, etc for that project.I have a little basket that I use for my sock and mitten projects with an old enamel coffee cup in the bottom for the ball, an oval tin lunch box from the 30's that I use for slightly larger things like hats with a soup bowl for the yarn, and an old picnic basket for big things like sweaters with a serving bowl for the ball of yarn. The enamelware is lightweight and durable which is why I use it. A lot of my yarn stash is in old lidded boxes. We live in a log house, so I try to select storage pieces that are appropriate for the look of the house. When I want to take a project along when traveling, I just grab the appropriate basket and I'm good to go.
Cute looking and practical. Nasty of your cat to do that to the woodbox! My bags are ones that my Grandmother collected on cruises that she took to Jamaica over the years before she passed away. Nice seagrass ones. They look nice, and are colourful reminders of her. Cathy
What a great way to remember your Grandma and I bet they are nice strong bags for your projects.
Yes, and the zippers, and fasteners keep the furry critters from nesting in there as well! And when Grampa was still alive, he loved that they were being put to good use, as she had quite a few of them! Cathy
I started on my first mitten and the thumb had a bad hole in it. I whipped it up the best I could and then it came to sewing up the side. That's when I stopped. Not fun.
Sounds like my first mitten. I never finished it either, (the 2nd one). I got someone to show me how to knit them on dpns in the round, and have never looked back. The hole I close by twisting that stitch when I come to it on the next round knitting the thumb. Cathy
Yeah, I have all kind of instructions. I think I need a teacher.
Do you know anyone else that knits? Is there a yarn shop near you? Do you ever see anyone knitting anywhere? Knitters like to talk in my experience. And are always happy to show you and demonstrate what they are working on. Ask questions. Start a pair of mittens, and when you get to the tough part, take them into a yarn shop and get someone there to help you! They want you to finish your project so you will go on to another and buy more wool! They will often even have classes. I have often taken a project in to get help when I am stuck, and their expert knitters are most happy to help me through. Cathy
There is a yarn shop about 30 or 35 miles from me. They are there from 9 to 12 on Saturdays and one night during the week, they are open late. I like those people. They are very nice and the ones I got my pattern and yarn from, but I am always so busy on Saturdays. One of these days, I hope to sit around and knit with them. They even have food. I don't need any, but it sure is tempting.
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