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I knit my first pair of socks! And they fit! And I love them!

This is my second knitting project, and I know a lot of people right now are saying, “Whaaaaaaa…?! Socks are NOT beginner friendly!”

But here’s the thing.

I really wanted to make socks!

I know from my disaster of a garter-stitch scarf that I don’t like boring projects that I’m not going to wear. I’m patient, I can follow instructions, and I’m ok with a slightly-more-complicated pattern if it’s to make something I want to wear.

I don’t like wearing shorty socks, but store-bought socks with longer legs often cut off the circulation in my calves. I don’t know why – I don’t have especially large calves – but they do. The last time I found some that didn’t, I bought a whole bunch, but that was years ago and that batch is starting to wear out.

I needed new socks, and I can’t keep asking Jo to make them for me. 😂 I mean, she’s happy to make me socks, but I know there are other things she wants to knit, too.

Plus, I wanted a small project that I could carry around with me now that my sweater-in-progress is getting unwieldy.

So I knit a pair of socks! Jo helped me choose yarn and a pattern, and I was off to the (very slow) races. 😂

Here’s my yarn.

Jo recommends wool with a little bit of nylon added for durability, and I love Malabrigo, so I picked their Ultimate Sock Yarn in the color Indiecita. So pretty!

Jo helped me choose a pattern, too. I used The Ribbed Sock from New Wave Knitting. Jo has made me socks using this pattern before, and it has a very cool feature. You choose your yarn (pretty much any weight is ok), knit up a gauge, and then input that number into the pattern. The pattern then calculates everything for you! Magic!

I used double-point needles, which were a little hard for me to manage at first, but I got used to them. It just took me a little while to figure out the best way for me to hold everything comfortably – which is, I think, the story of everyone’s knitting and crochet life. 😂

And now I have a pair of socks!

I maybe didn’t do the best job blocking that lower sock, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well. 🙂 They still look great on.

I’ve cast on for a new pair, also ribbed, but this time using a different kind of heel. I’m also trying 9-inch circulars (Stacey’s favorite method) instead of double-points. The jury is still out. It’s definitely faster now that I’m into it, but that first round was a beast with those itty bitty needles. Not even a little bit fun. 🙁 I’m also going to try the magic loop on my next pair, just to try all the options to see which one I like best.

And here’s one more look at my finished socks.

Don’t they look pretty with that fabric?

I’m starting a class next week to learn how to draft a pattern from a finished garment, and this is the fabric I plan to use to make a copy of the purple dress in this post. It’s linen, so I still need to wash and dry it two more times before the class starts. (Lesson learned.)

I can’t wait!