Here they are, the socks that reminded me that knitting socks is easy and that I love it.
For this first pair, I kept it simple and easy – the so called “plain vanilla” socks: all stockinette, no special features, letting the yarn tell its own story. For these kinds of socks I usually turn to Wendy Johnson’s Socks from the Toe Up book, which helped me make my first steps in sock-knitting and remains a trusted resource. While I have nothing against cuff-down socks, toe-up knitting can be really handy in certain situations, for example when you’re not sure how much yarn you will have exactly. You get the non-negotiable part of the socks (i.e. the length of the foot) knit first, and then for the cuff you can just keep knitting until you run out of yarn.
I really love that Wendy presents a number of different toe and heel techniques, and these kinds of simple socks are perfect for experimenting and finding your preferred option. For these socks I went with the short-row heel, which I think of as “the standard” heel type. The finished heel was fine, but I did find the process rather hard on the fingers (lots of tight wraps to pick up and knit), so it’s not my favourite heel type.
Further experiments in sock construction techniques to come…
you might want to try a different style of w&t. one of my favorite short row technique is shadow wraps.http://www.leethalknits.com/tutorials/shadowwraps.html
lovely socks. I love the fraternal colors!
Good point, hand’t thought of that!
I used to be a diehard toe-up with a short row heel kind of person. Eventually I became a diehard top down with a heel flap kind of person. I think as you start wearing your socks, you’ll also start knowing what kind of fit you want and where you wear out socks. (I wear them out on the back of the heel and I found that the slip stitch heel flap delays needing to repair them.)
I love the flap heel! I have a sneaking suspicion that by the time I’ve tried them all, it’ll end up being my favourite :)
Hi Fridica,
I missed seeing that you are posting again but I caught up now. What a fantastic jumper with very clever pockets!
These socks are fabulous, what a lovely, lovely yarn! I am very jealous.
If you want to try a very smooth and very easy to do heel you could try the Sweet Tomato heel (I think it’s by Cat Bordhi). It is one of my favourites and you can easily do it toe-up as well as top-down.
Welcome back to knitting! (a little belatedly)
I hope you are well
Giselle
Thanks for checking in, Giselle! It’s such a relief to know that a few people still remember me… ;))) I will definitely look up that heel, very curious!