Knitting your First Pair of Socks: A Basic Pattern

Knitting doesn’t get much better than creating socks! Even though you are knitting something for your feet, making socks is the apex of knitting. Why? Well, take a look at your foot. What a complicated shape! Imagine using simple tools (thin sticks, pointed at both ends) and simple material, (a couple hundred yards of thin wool) and figuring out how to knit a nice, warm, snug cover for this shape. Aren’t you glad that someone already figured it out? (Actually, our ancestors worked out more than one way to knit a sock; we’re learning top-down.) All you have to do is follow directions to knit a beautiful sock, to fit your foot. Few shapes offer such satisfaction. You are in for a great adventure, if you haven’t knit socks yet! These directions explain, in great detail (actually you might even find the detail excruciating at times) how to knit a basic sock.

Yarn, Needles and Gauge

Fortunately for knitters, yarn is available specifically for knitting socks! That is, wool, with some man-made fiber added to make the yarn more durable. Usually its nylon, but you’ll also see “polyamide” listed. The man-made fiber is usually 15%-25%. Don’t be fooled if you see yarn called “sock wool” that doesn’t include the reinforcing fiber. I can tell you from experience that socks knit with 100% wool will wear out quickly!

Generally, sock wool comes in skeins of about 200 yards, or meters. One such skein is enough for one adult sock. So purchase 2 skeins for a pair. (You’ll need 3 skeins if knitting for very large feet.) Of course, depending on your personal tastes, the skeins can match, or not!

This fine, sock wool, about 200 yards in a 50g skein, should be knit firmly. Don’t pay attention to what the skein band might suggest about gauge. Wool this fine should be knit at 10 stitches per inch, if you want a durable sock. Loosely-knit socks not only do not wear well; they wrinkle up in your shoes and are quite annoying. In fact, loosely-knit socks are guaranteed to put you in a bad mood! So knit your socks firmly! I suggest using size 0 (2mm) needles to obtain this gauge. Don’t be scared away by the small size of needles. These are actually very easy on the hands, and very comfortable to knit with!