Last Week It Was a Ball of Yarn, This Week It’s a Sock

My daughter’s (very colorful) mid-calf wool socks.

A little over a week ago, my daughter was getting ready for bed and put on some summer pajamas along with the mid-calf wool socks I knitted for her.  Given that it was about 75 degrees in our house at the time, I thought she’d be way too warm in those socks.  I asked her if she’d like me to make her another pair of bed socks (the short, footie-like socks, which she has long outgrown) and she said she’d rather have socks that come up a little higher.  So I started thinking about what I might make for her that are more traditional socks but also better suited for warmer weather.

In our matching bed socks, back when they still fit my daughter.

I went to my stash and looked at what sock yarn I had on hand.  Seeing the Cascade Fixation yarn reminded me of the pair of socks that I knitted for myself in a somewhat open, lacy pattern using that yarn, which is mostly cotton with just a bit of elastic.  The Fixation yarn with the lacy-ish pattern would make great warmer-weather socks for my daughter, and back when I originally ordered that yarn, along with the green for myself I ordered some teal, which is now one of my daughter’s favorite colors.  Hurrah!

My daughter’s newly-finished sock, with its companion on the needles.

So last weekend I started on the new socks for my daughter, and this weekend I finished her first sock (and started on the other).  Even after all these years of knitting, I still find it amazing that in one week I can go from having a ball of yarn, which is pretty and full of potential, but not very useful in its ball form, to having a sock, which will lovingly cover my daughter’s foot and keep it warm. The sense of accomplishment from making something, especially something useful, is one of the many things I love about knitting.

A close-up of the lovely herringbone lace pattern, which also happens to naturally create that pretty, rippled edge at the sock’s top.

The pattern I’m using is called “Herringbone Lace Socks” and the lace repeat is simple and easy to remember, but not boring.  And it produces a really lovely sock.  The pattern is by Ann Budd from her Getting Started Knitting Socks book.  This is a fantastic book for beginner sock knitters; it has step-by-step instructions for each and every part of a sock, with detailed written instructions and photographs for each step.  Plus there are patterns for socks at various gauges–from 8 stitches per inch using fingering yarn, to 4 stitches per inch using bulky yarn–and for sizes ranging from a kid’s medium (shoe size 9 to 12) to an adult’s large (women’s shoe size 11 to 14; men’s shoe size 10 to 13).  If you want to start knitting socks and buy only one book, I highly recommend Ann Budd’s Getting Started Knitting Socks.