Knitting Socks

My Aunt Ethel taught me to knit when I was a young girl of about 8 or 9. I have knitted off and on over the years; mostly very easy things like scarfs, afghans and a occasional pair of slippers. Recently I was browsing the yarn section of my local Hobby Lobby and found self stripping sock yarn. I always wanted to give knitting socks a try; but, the idea of trying to manage 4 needles sounded complicated. I bought the yarn anyway and began an Internet search "How to knit socks." I found lots of blogs offering tutorials; but, I was still hesitant. Then I found an online knitting class called Silver's Sock Class created for those new to knitting socks. It gives step by step details with pictures. Just what I needed. I printed the instructions and you can see the results. I love the self striping yarn. I am now almost finished with my second pair. These were knitted from the top down. Next I am going to try starting at the toe and knitting up. The trouble with knitting from the top down is left over yarn. I was conservative on the upper portion of the sock to make sure I had enough yarn to complete the sock all the way thru the toe. Most of the toe up techniques use two circular needles; this looked confusing to me; so, I found a book call Toe-Up Techniques by Janet Rehfeldt. It uses the 4 needle process ( I am good at 4 needles now.) and includes lots of illustrations.

I love this watermelon self striping yarn; I found it at Freshisle Fibers Shop All of the yarns at this site are hand dyed or hand painted. It is currently out of stock. I emailed to find out when this yarn would be available. Apparently this is a very popular yarn and sells out as soon as it becomes available. I was told this yarn usually becomes available at the first of the month. There is no back ordering or waiting list. I have been checking the site everyday and so far I have not had any luck. I will keep checking. I have to have this yarn. These are the cutest socks EVER!

By the way, knitting a pair of socks does not take as long as you might expect. The tricky part is getting them exactly the same size.