Knitted socks

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Jan 1, 2022
9
2
64
Maine
Wow!! Just Wow!! Those are some beautiful socks!! That is such a useful skill I NEED to learn. Could you recommend a worthwhile youtube channel where one might get good instructions?? Like a favourite channel. I know nothing about knitting thou I've seen it done alot.
 

SaraR

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Mar 25, 2017
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Ceredigion
Wow!! Just Wow!! Those are some beautiful socks!! That is such a useful skill I NEED to learn. Could you recommend a worthwhile youtube channel where one might get good instructions?? Like a favourite channel. I know nothing about knitting thou I've seen it done alot.
Thanks! :)

I learnt to knit when I was like 4 years old, so I don’t really watch youtube videos suitable for beginners, however there are loads of good knitting videos out there showing all sorts of things from simple to complicated. Most knitting magazines will have illustrations in the back on how to knit as well, if you prefer that to videos.

I can give you a few pointers though:
-there are several different styles of knitting (e.g. ”English”, ”Continental”, ”Russian” and versions thereof). They all have pros and cons, but it doesn’t really matter which one you use. Having said that, start with one and stick to that until you are comfortable with it and you can ”read” your knitting before trying a different style.

- find videos from one (so that you don’t accidentally start mixing styles of knitting) person and make sure their hands are visible the whole time so that you can see what they are doing.

- You need to learn how to do a knit stitch, a purl stitch, to cast on and to bind off. The rest will build on that.

-If you can find someone to cast on and knit the first few rows for you, everything will be a lot easier, as you can just focus on learning easier things first, but if that’s not an option, just take your time and do it slowly and you’ll be fine.

- You’re first attempts will be wonky, uneven and with some surprise holes. That’s OK, you’re learning a whole new skill that is requiring a lot of dexteriety. Either get some cotton yarn and make dish or wash cloths, or get some wool yarn and make some rectangles that you can turn into wrist warmers by whip stitching along the long edges. I suggest starting with DK, Aran or Worsted weight yarn and a pair of bamboo knitting needles of the size suggested on the ball band. Avoid fuzzy yarn and dark colours (harder to see), but otherwise pick something that you would want to use.

- To knit socks, you also need to be able to knit in the round. There are different ways of doing this, so again, pick one method and stick with that to start with. I prefer using five DPNs (double-pointed needles), but you can also use cable needles (one or two). You’ll feel like you’re wrestling with a sea urchin to start with, but it soon becomes easy and relaxing.

- Join Ravelry.com for lots of free patterns, useful information and a thriving community of people who usually are very willing to help.
 
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Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
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Sally in Wales posted a really clear photo tutorial on Downsizer.
I liked that it was static enough to show the steps without moving ahead so quickly that folks struggled to keep up.
Nice comfy socks too :)
Sally has a lot of patterns on Ravelry as well.

 
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Jan 1, 2022
9
2
64
Maine
Thanks for the reply Sara. I appreciate your time and thoughts. I will look into that info. Looking forward to getting started on a new useful hobby. Take good care.
 

SaraR

Full Member
Mar 25, 2017
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Ceredigion
Recently finished my first pair of toe-up socks (as opposed to cuff-down) and today I made a pair of simple wrist warmers from the leftovers. These are in thicker yarn so much quicker to knit then my usual socks.

Now I just need to make the second sock of the magic toadstool socks as well, which is much slower thanks to the colourwork.

IMG_20230115_183700044.jpgIMG_20230121_170247824.jpgIMG_20221206_214605085.jpg
 
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SaraR

Full Member
Mar 25, 2017
1,631
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Ceredigion
Your socks are fantastic, you’re really talented to be able to create such great things.
Thank you! British and American patterns are usually very detailed and explaining every step, so if you just follow them carefully it’s actually fairly straightforward. I love that once you understand the principles of it, you can adjust and adapt everything to fit your feet just the way you want it. The downside is that with 4-ply yarn, there are in the region of 15 000-20 000 stitches per pair…
 

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