Okay, thanks for joining me on this KAL. If you’ve never made a pair of socks before, don’t worry, it’s a snap. I do recommend that you look at the links in the last post though and just have a quick read through. We’ll have a bit of a refresher with some parts of it during this KAL. You’ll quickly realize that they’re not as difficult as they first appear. Once you understand the anatomy of the sock, you’ll be that much more comfortable with trying this from scratch. Yes, I said from scratch. You see, we’re not following a pattern here. That means you’ll have to do some prep work to get this done. So let’s jump right in with both feet, shall we?
Let’s look at our checklist that we need and make sure we’re ready to get started …
- Yarn – any yarn you’re comfortable knitting with will do, but I recommend nothing thicker than worsted weight (4 stitches to the inch), and if this is your first pair ever nothing thinner than 4-ply sock weight ( 7 stitches to the inch). It’s important the yarn NOT be 100% natural. Superwash wool is okay, as it’s been treated and won’t felt. Anything with about 15% – 25% nylon or other synthetic fiber should work just great. I’ll be using FINE by Spud and Chloe that I reviewed a few posts ago. If you do use something 100% natural – like a pure wool – you’ll need some nylon or other suitable fiber to reinforce the heel and toes so you don’t wear out a hole in them right away. We’ll look at some options later on.
- Needles – any needles that will match the yarn that you’re working with and can be used to knit in the round. That means you can use double pointed needles,one long circular, or two circulars. Whatever you’re comfortable with. I’ll be starting with double-pointed needles but will likely move to circulars somewhere along the way! 😉
- Stitch markers – these will be necessary further along in the project.
- Waste yarn – since we’re doing an after thought heel, you’ll need some waste yarn to put some stitches in limbo later on (not really on hold like you’re used to)
- Feet – I’m assuming you’re making these socks for someone – yourself perhaps? If the feet aren’t handy, try getting a trace of BOTH feet so you can check the sizing along the way.
I think that will do it for now. Okay, so time for a bit of bad news. You’re going to have to do a gauge swatch. Once you do the swatch you’ll know what your stitches per inch count is and you can customize the sock exactly as needed!
So get knitting with your planned materials and we’ll cast on in the next post!
Hugzzz 😎