Getting Started Knitting Socks - Part 2 - Cuff

I've finished the cuff on both socks. The cuff was done with K2, P2 Ribbing, and was 15 rows, or 3 inches. It was slow going, and in spite of trying to pay close attention to correcting mistakes, a few crept in anyway. Still, this is the best I've done since I learned how to kit. The most common error I'm making is forgetting to put the yarn in front of the needle, or behind the needle, when making a knit or a purl stitch. I will put a lifeline through the loops that are on the needles, before I start working on the legs. I'm planning to do the legs in St st, so maybe the progress will be a little faster. The pattern says to work pattern of choice until leg measures 8.75 inches from CO, or desired length to top of heel. If I go the full 8.75 inches, I have 5.75 inches to go. I averaged 5 rows per inch in the cuff. If that continues to hold true, I'll need to knit about 28 or 29 rows to get to the top of the heel. I'll see how it looks at 5, 6 and 7 inches and make a decision.

Getting Started Knitting Socks - Part 1 - Cast-On

Since finishing the Class Sock from the sock class at the LYS, I've felt confident that I can knit a basic pair of cuff-down socks.

The first thing I did was measure my feet. They were 9.875 inches in circumference around the ball of each foot, and 10.75 inches long.

The next thing I did was to knit a gauge swatch in-the-round, using the yarn I purchased, and the US 9 bamboo dpns I made. I cast-on (CO) 30 stitches, then started knitting in Stockinette Stitch (St st).

When knitting St st in-the-round, knit every row. I knit the swatch 4 inches long. Then I threaded some scrap yarn through the loops, and removed the dpns. In most places, the swatch had 5 stitches per inch. Some places had 4.5 stitches per inch. Anyway, I decided to go with the 5 Stitches Per Inch Basic Sock pattern in Ann Budd's book, Getting Started Knitting Socks (GSKS).



Next, I transcribed the pattern, using just the numbers for an Adult Large size sock. I typed the pattern as a plain text file, using just the knitting abbreviations and the numbers for the Adult Large sock size. Then I copy-pasted the text file into OpenOffice.org Writer, and formatted it with Bold and Italics to make it easy for me to read. Finally I exported it as a PDF file and printed it out. It printed to two pages. I can mark-up the printed pages, and not have any marks in the book.

The first instruction is to CO 48 stitches (sts), join, and work 8.75 inches in the pattern of your choice.

I used the Long Tail CO, then slipped 16 sts onto three bamboo dpns. Then I did the Cross Over Join (as described in GSKS), and proceeded to do a couple of rows of k2, p2 ribbing to hold it all together. I did this for both socks. My plan is to do each step of making a sock, to both socks. CO-CO, cuff-cuff, leg-leg, heel-heel, gusset-gusset, foot-foot, and toe-toe. Hopefully I will not experience Second Sock Syndrome, which I understand leaves many socks without a partner.


The ball of yarn on the left was the one I used to do the gauge swatch. After measuring the sts/inch on the gauge swatch, I ripped it out to use in the socks. That's why there is a small ball of yarn beside the big ball.

Notice the difference in the shape of the balls of yarn? I purchased two hanks of yarn, and the owner of the LYS wound one hank into a cake for me. Later, when I went back to the LYS to get the other hank wound into a cake, a different person wound it for me. Each person used a different tension on the yarn when they were winding it on the wool winder, and as a result, the cakes of yarn look slightly different.

At the time of this writing, I have about 3 inches of cuff knitted for one sock. I will be posting pictures when I have the same amount of work on both socks finished.

Toe-Up!

I was inspired to learn how to knit socks by Wendy D. Johnson's book, Socks From The Toe Up, and toe-up socks are something that I'm very interested in learning about. So the other day, when I was in my LYS, I saw Chrissy Gardiner's book, Toe-Up!, which she self-published. It comes highly recommended by reviewers at Amazon.Com, so I went ahead and added it to my sock knitting library. I'm glad I did!

Class Sock

The dangers of the Local Yarn Shop (LYS) are many, especially for the uninitiated knitter. For one thing, the LYS is filled with yarn. Yarn Accidents happen. You can get home with a bag of newly purchased yarn, and not remember having bought it. The LYS has knitting supplies. The LYS has knitting books. The LYS offers knitting classes.

What happened to me was, I went to the LYS to show them my first Training Sock, and they showed me a little mini-sock that was incredible to touch. It was beautiful. It made my first little sock look and feel like a first little sock. The owner of the LYS told me that they were offering a class on how to make that beautiful little mini-sock, and that the class hadn't started yet. Well, I was good. I didn't sign up for the class right away. I let that little sock work on me for a day or so, then I went back and signed-up for the sock class.

The thing that was different about this sock was that it was being taught using a new technique: Magic Loop. So I went ahead and bought a circular needle, some darning needles, and a crochet hook for the class when I signed-up for it. The wool for the sock and a book (Sensational Knitted Socks) were provided as part of the class.

Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch.

Even though we had some really bad weather, and even though only one other student signed-up for the class, the sock class was held anyway. It was taught on two consecutive weekends, which gave me time to work on it in between classes. Each class was two hours long. The teacher for the class was Karen, a young woman with 6 years of knitting experience. She's been knitting nearly one fourth of her life! She is a very talented knitter and teacher.

With the Magic Loop technique, the sock is knitted using one circular needle, which is two stainless steel needles with a long 40 inch cable attached to them. Instead of dividing the sock between 3 or 4 Double Pointed Needles, the sock is divided between the two needles with a loop of cable between them. Then one of the needles is pulled through the loops, leaving those loops on the cable. The needle that was pulled through becomes the working needle that knits and purls. Back and forth it goes, with each needle being pulled free in turn to be the working needle. It sounds more complicated than it is. Anyway, I went from knitting on dpns to Magic Loop without ever doing socks on two circular needles.

In this picture, the heel has been turned, and the stitches have been divided up for knitting the gusset. The blue stitch markers were placed so I would know where to make the gusset decreases.

This is the finished Class Sock from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I still made plenty of errors in this sock, but I can already tell that I'm becoming a better knitter. I figure that when I'm learning how to knit, I can't afford to be an absolute perfectionist or I'll never get anything done. The Training Socks and the Class Sock were for learning how to knit and to become familiar with sock anatomy.

Sock Anatomy from Socks 101 by Kate Atherley.

My next project will be an adult-sized sock, and I'm going to try my best to do it without making any mistakes.

Training Sock No. 2

Blogging Pundits say that it isn't a good idea to post everything to your blog in one day, but I'm just catching up so I can get on with the new stuff later on. I've only been knitting for about one month now. I must admit that most of that time, I was reading knitting tutorials or watching knitting tutorial videos, not knitting. However, since I knitted the first Training Sock inside-out, I decided to knit a second Training Sock, right-side-out.

Training Sock No.2 with gray wool yarn and bamboo dpns.
Knitted right-side-out.

Although I knitted this sock correctly, I ended up making all sorts of other mistakes while knitting it. For one thing, it doesn't have as nice a shape as the first Training Sock. There are all sorts of other little errors as well, that can't be seen in the photo. I'm making many typical beginner mistakes as I learn how to knit.

My First Yarn Purchase

You can knit with two sticks and some string, but the thing that most knitters get obsessive about is yarn. Knitters like to have yarn-on-hand. Yarn-on-hand is called The Stash. There are people who have been knitting for years that have an impressive stash. I really haven't even started, because I don't have a yarn stash, yet.

In Wendy D. Johnson's book, Socks From The Toe Up, she says:

ONE OF MY MOTTOS IS "SOCK YARN DOES NOT COUNT AS STASH," AND I WILL DEFEND THAT IN THE FACE OF ALL OPINIONS TO THE CONTRARY.

It sounds good to me!

Anyway, after I finished my successful Training Sock No. 1, I treated myself to my first yarn purchase.




Cascade 128
Yarn weight: Bulky / 12 ply (7 wpi)
Amount stashed: 2 skeins = 256.0 yards (234.1 m)
Purchased at: Knit Picky
Purchase date: January 2010
Price paid: $21.50
Dye lot: 0103
Colorway: 8010
Color family: Natural/Undyed

On the left is the hank, and on the right is the cake of yarn after the hank was put on a swift and wound with a wool winder.

Knitting has its own language.

Training Sock No. 1

I think that most people who learn how to knit start with projects that are flat and done in garter stitch. Potholders, dishcloths, and scarves are favorite beginner projects. Theoretically, my first project was also flat; but measuring 6.5 by 2 inches, and knitted with jute twine really doesn't count as a knitting project. It was more like a sample.

My very first knitting project was the Training Sock by Kate Atherley. I was so eager to learn how to knit socks that I just skipped over all the traditional beginning knitter projects and jumped right into my first sock. I used the gray wool yarn that had been gifted to me (thank you Ann).

The first obstacle to overcome when learning how to knit is learning how to read a knitting pattern. At first, a knitting pattern looks very difficult. However, the first thing to learn is that every complex instruction in a knitting pattern can be broken down into simpler instructions. The very first step is to read the pattern.

My modus operandi for learning how to knit, and for knitting the Training Sock was:

1. read Kate’s Training Sock pattern,
2. look up the abbreviation(s) in a Knitting Glossary,
3. Google search the stitch or technique I needed to learn,
4. read tutorials and watch a video or two or three,
5. practice a wee bit,
6. then apply it to the Training Sock.

The most helpful video tutorial sites were:

1. KnittingHelp.Com
2. YouTube

I had to learn everything from scratch, from how to hold the yarn and needles to cast-on, join, k1 p1 ribbing, stockinette stitch (knit every round on dpns), short row heel turn (easier than I thought it would be), pick-up stitches, decreasing gussets (k2tog, p2tog, ssk, psso - again, easier than I thought it would be), and weaving in the loose ends. I made my own tapestry needle from a bamboo chopstick for weaving the loose ends in.

Here are some pix of Training Sock No. 1 being knitted:

The cuff on 3 dpns.

The heel flap with the heel turn completed.

Knitting the foot of the sock.

Knitting the gusset.

The finished sock.

I didn’t know that I was knitting the sock inside out until after I was finished. I found out that this is a typical beginner’s mistake. However, that was my biggest, most visible mistake. I was able to follow the rest of the pattern well enough to finish the sock without making too many other large boo-boos. Remeber: even the most complex instructions can be broken down into simpler instructions.

I fudged the finish of the toe when I tried to do a Kitchener Stitch to close it. The sock ended up with a big hole in the toe. I was able to repair it by turning the sock inside-out, putting a golf ball in the toe, then doing some sock darning.

Even with all the mistakes I made, I feel this was quite an accomplishment. I learned how to knit by knitting a sock.

Learning to Knit

Unlike many other knitters who were taught how to knit by someone in their family, no one in my family knitted. Therefore, I didn't have a long-neglected knitting basket of knitting needles and wool yarn in the attic that I could start with. The sub-title of Wendy Knits is Adventures with sticks and string., and I took that to heart.

I found some bamboo chopsticks from the local Chinese Take-out, sharpened the points, and sanded them smooth with some sandpaper. I also found a remnant ball of jute twine. Sticks and string, right?

The next step was to learn what to do with the sticks and string. That's where my desktop computer and a broadband connection to the Internet came to the rescue. I learned how to knit by watching video tutorials at KnittingHelp.Com and Google Video. More often than not, Google Video pointed me to video tutorials at YouTube.Com.

Anyway, this is what my very first attempt at knitting looked like, with two bamboo chopsticks and some jute twine.



My next knitting experiment was to try to knit circular, using Double Pointed Needles. So I found some more bamboo chopsticks, sharpened both ends, and sanded them smooth. I followed online tutorials to learn how to cast-on, divide the cast-on stitches onto three dpns (the knitting abbreviation for Double Pointed Needles) without getting the stitches twisted, and join the stitches to get ready to start knitting in the round.



With that kind of success, I was ready to really start learning how to knit socks. I emailed an acquaintance that I knew, who knitted, and attached the above photos, along with a long explanation of how I wanted to learn how to knit socks. I was so excited, I just had to tell someone! The next day, she came by the house and dropped off a bag of knitting needles, wool yarn, and a book. My first knitting gift! (Thank you SO much, Ann!)

Inspiration to Knit Socks

I've always taken socks for granted. Wear them, then throw them in the laundry, and throw them away when they wear out. Socks are bought in outlet stores, in quantity, that fit feet sizes 9 to 11. When it gets cold, wear two pair together, inside of boots.

So it was really surprising to me that a book by Wendy D. Johnson called Socks From The Toe Up caught my eye at the bookstore. While browsing through this book, I realized that socks could be beautiful, and socks could be made by hand. These are some photos from the book that I found at Kristen Petliski's site. Can you see why I was inspired to learn to make socks?

Ravelry

Ravelry is an online knitting and crochet community. It has many features, including a knitting notebook where I can organize my projects, needles, yarns, stash, and books. There are also groups where knitters share information. It is a great place to meet other knitters, and I can keep track of my friends. There are tons of free knitting patterns, as well as patterns for sale. My Ravelry user name is kwm. My first sock projects are up on Ravelry. I'm learning how to knit by knitting socks. Socks, socks, socks.