In a race to the finish, Lillith Fair and I both finished our first knitted socks today. Okay, technically she finished hers yesterday, but if I hadn’t fallen asleep I would have finished before midnight. But it’s done, it fits, I’ve taken a picture which I can’t upload until my son returns the USB cord (and teaches me how to upload a picture) and tonight I will cast on the mate! I used a self-patterning yarn …Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in color 6997 (Lucky). Mine is going to be a slouchy sock, I fear…I only ribbed the top inch, the rest is stockinette, and there is no nylon or spandex in this yarn to make it cling, but it will keep my feet warm, and that’s what’s important. Except that it’s now spring, and by the time I finish sock #2 it will be…oooh, I’m sure it’ll stretch out till fall!
I can’t remember when we started these socks, so I can’t tell you how long it took, but I do remember that the yarn shop radio was playing Christmas music when we took the class, and the other two women were excited about hearing Christmas music, while Lillith and I just bit our tongues until we got outside and could scream…I’m sure it was right around Thanksgiving.
I don’t think I will ever get into the fancy cabled socks with complex patterning, but I do know the next pair will be ribbed the whole way, and a thinner yarn. This stuff is nice to handle, but the finished sock is huge…more like a Christmas stocking! I recently was at a booksigning for The Yarn Harlot and many, many people were knitting on their socks, all of which were petite and stretchyand delicate. I have a picture of the Harlot and me with our two socks held side by side…Mine is really big!
Congratulations! The first sock really means you’re only a quarter of the way done. You’ll know what I mean when you get hit with second sock syndrome. It’s similar to second sleeve syndrome.
If you want to keep on with the sock knitting, I got Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush for Christmas, and it’s great. I haven’t knit anything out of it yet, because this is The Year of the Sweater, but all the patterns are wonderful. There’s four variations on the simple ribbed sock, several baby socks, some fairly simple lace socks, and some very handsome men’s socks. Patterns for those can be so hard to find. There’s also a nice primer on sock knitting, which should allow you to concoct your own simple patterns fairly easily.
Nancy Bush is a fantastic pattern author and researcher.
And thanks, Miss Purl for the book recommendation. I took that one out from the library and it does have some great stuff in there. But I’m serious. Basic socks are all I will be making. No lace, no patterns, no cables. The yarn can do all the fancy work for me. Ribbing will be the extent of my creativity. Honest. I am not going to be tempted. Though I do think I’d like to try toe-up once or twice. And if I can ever afford it, I’d like to try Cat Bordhi’s technique for doing two socks at once on really long cable needles because I know I will fall prey to Second Sock Syndrome. And some of the baby socks are just too cute, and they don’t take long.
Congrats! I am making a pair of these socks. I started in January and finished the first sock in two weeks. It’s now April and I am now on the foot of the second sock. I have sworn to myself I will finish these sometime this month.
Did you make two or just a sock?
I salute you either way.
I decided in the fall that my Self Assigned Knitting Project was to Make One Pair of Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks (The Class Sock) which is an excellent resource.
And I haven’t progressed since the heel flap. ( I haven’t tried either.)
But I did make a pair of left handed mittens! For a toddler.
(Made out of Brown Sheep Bulky Wool. Avocado Green. Know anyone two left handed toddlers out there? I’ll mail them free!)
I’ve got about 3 socks on the go currently. One just a plain sock and one from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush (the Welsh sock, I forget the exact name but the pattern looks like waves).
Yeah, you’ve read that right. It’s my own fault really. I dislike knitting with the sport weight, so two sit languishing until I stick them in my bag for the bus and I just started a new set using Jitterbug yarn, which I am in love with. It’s going much faster. I don’t think I’m a aock knitter though.
I love the Yarn Harlot though, read her blog all the time and anxiously await when she will be coming out my way.
What kind of toes and heels did you do? Toe up or top down? DPNs, two circs, or magic loop?
The standard “teaching” sock has a heel flap, short-row turning, kitchenered toes… top-down. I’ll never understand WHY they do this to beginning sock knitters–make them do everything in THE most fiddly and frustrating way the very first time.
No, it’s toe-up for me, Turkish cast-on, and short-row heels. On two circs. Soooooo simple.
I want to make Cressida, the knee-sock pattern with the cable up the back in the latest Knitty, but… well. I haven’t made any socks yet. At all. I am totally animal fibre allergic, and I have chunky, chunky calves. All of these things suggest I should try a nice sensible ankle sock in fixation or something just to get the hang. Chances are though, if I ever do make socks I’ll probably just have to drive myself to distraction making those knee socks. I never did do the stuff I was supposed to, first.
But I have to warn you, for me the hard part is not making a sock. It’s making two socks.
Sock #1 feels like such an accomplishment and then there’s nothing left to care about for #2…it gets cast on then…
I’ve even tried the two socks on two needles and combined that with a weird “no jog striping technique” to try to stay involved in the whole sock process. There, I got to the instep (that might be what I do next. Finish the heels (they’re toe up). There’s something to be accomplished there, I think). So I have two 1/4 socks.
BTW, replaceable heels - I like the way they look much better and they’re easier than “traditional” heels.
Those are gorgeous, but really, I don’t want to draw attention to my legs like that!
I did the traditional top down, Kitchener stitch (which rocks, by the way) heel flap, short row… the basics. That was the pattern given with the class, and I really wanted that transcendant experience that is purported to the The Turning of The Heel. Having read about it for so long, I wanted to feel it for myself. And it’s really sort of like the first time you have sex. You’re going along, following the vague instructions, hoping you’re not doing something wrong, with needles and yarn everywhere like elbows and knees and hair and then you realize that, wow, you’ve made a heel and you are just a bit puzzled about how that happened and you’re hoping that the next time you do it you can relax more and enjoy what’s happening, but it’s kind of cool and you really want to try it again and this time you’ll really pay attention. And not have to keep referring to the diagrams.