Socks

Trillian wrote that she'd like to knit socks but is concerned about the heels and toes.

If I can do them, anyone can. Really.

This is the pair I'm currently knitting:



Isn't that great yarn? I bought it in Munich in this little shop near the Marienplatz, I think it was. Tom found the shop and actually showed it to me. In case you don't know me that well, I'm notorious for buying huge quantities of yarn and just waiting till the right pattern comes along. Tom thinks I have enough to last me the rest of my life, or at least a few years' worth, which is true. BUT. Good yarn is hard for me to pass up. I'd planned to spend all my Europe money on yarn and Birkenstocks, but this was the only yarn shop we found. Turns out this yarn was made in Italy but has a German label on it. Wish I'd been able (or at least tried) to find a yarn shop in Italy. (Birkenstocks are another matter and deserve an entire post to themselves.)

This is part wool, part cotton, and part nylon. Maybe something else is thrown in; I don't remember. But it knits up so beautifully and it cost about 1/3 less than it does in the US. I bought three balls of it, enough for 3 pairs of socks (for me!!!) and lots left for baby socks and hats. I'd love to have enough of it to knit a top with it.



Those tiny needles are size 1 circulars (Addi Turbos, the best needle ever made, in my opinion), 12" long, and I use them for the straightforward parts of the socks (legs and feet). I switch to long circs (at least 40" long) for the heels and toes, just for the decreases. I find it's so much easier for me to knit with the circulars than with double point needles (dpns, for those of us who are knitting-impaired). I couldn't figure it out for myself, but a knitter at one of the yarn shops in town showed me how. I went home and still couldn't do it, but after googling it and looking at photos, I was able to figure it out and off I went.

(We're fortunate enough to have three yarn stores in this small city. Up until a year ago there weren't any, just Walmart and Michael's, but now we have three. They each focus on different yarns so they complement each other instead of competing.)

I can point you to websites that show how to knit with circs. It's so much easier to manage one circ than four dpns. There's a way to knit two socks at once with two pairs of long circs, but I haven't been able to manage it yet. I haven't really tried because I don't have two of the same size circs.

One of these days, Tom, I've got to buy more circs!



P. S. I finished that sock on the way home and started the second. I do love to knit socks!