Calling all sock knitters!
Published by Shannon June 14th, 2007 in Customer focusAre you a sock knitter? Do you want to be? We’re expanding the curriculum and the yarn offerings here at the shop to celebrate our friends Lime and Violet’s new sock book (out next month), and because summer is the perfect time to knit smaller projects like socks!
Do you like 100% wool sock yarns, or a wool and nylon blend? Superwash wool? What size needles do you like to knit socks with? Top up? Top down? More unusual constructions or techniques? Our behind-the-scenes sock class-planners want to know.
As an added incentive, if you comment on this post, we’ll offer you a discount on your first sock class or sock yarn purchase.
Don’t forget that Shannon is podcasting live from the shop with knit designer and author of Naughty Needles, Nikol Lohr at 2:00 p.m. Call in or stop by!
I am coming to Cleveland in a couple of weeks. Will have to see if I can make it to a sock class or at the very least sock yarn. I am just working the second sock of my first pair.
Hi Shannon, I found Stitch Cleveland through you on Ravelry. This was the first I had heard about your studio … congratulations! What a wonderful resource for the Cleveland crafting community.
To answer your sock questions, I prefer to knit socks with one long circular (using the Magic Loop method). I’m a relaxed knitter, so I generally use 0s or 1s for fingering weight socks and 2s or 3s for DK or sport weight socks. I like to knit them cuff down, because you get the boring part behind you first!
As far as yarn goes, I have a SERIOUS sock yarn problem! I prefer 100% wool yarns, but am indifferent as to whether it is superwash. My favorite sock yarns are Sundara Yarns, Cider Moon, Claudia Hand Paint, and Socks That Rock.
I’m thinking about my next pair of socks. I’d love to find a group/class. As for yarns, one can knit socks from whatever floats their boat…
I’m a sock junkie — I knit a fair bit, and the vast majority of my projects are socks.
As a rule, I end up with:
-toe up
-figure eight cast-on
-one long circ
-fingerling weight yarn in a solid color
-short row heel
-all-wool yarn
-size zero needles
-between 9 and 10 stitches to the inch
I’m not overly keen on patterened feet, though I’ve been playing around with shaped feet lately and really liking the results. Usually I’ll start the stitch pattern after turning the heel; occasionally I’ll be knitting socks for someone else and start it after I’ve finished the toe increases.
I’ve got three pairs of socks on the needles right now, one next to my bed, one in my office, and one in my kitchen. I can talk about this for hours!
I love socks and I love to knit socks but I just can’t use tiny needles so this makes my sock knitting interesting. i, more often than not, just use a nice worsted or light worsted yarn. I started knitting them on 6s [my first pair was made from noro kuyreon and cash iroha which are a lil thick for worsted] but now I usually use my swallow casien 5s. I always go top to toe and being anti-patterns I don’t have a “pattern” I just swatch, gauge, and go.
every once in a while I will actually, gasp, use sock yarn…I just knit two strands at once. I had a disasterous time trying to use the infamous koigu kpppm and kpm on a pair of socks [got the kpppm in a swap and bought the kpm] and I *barely* had enough to do a pair and it was hellacious kniting…and yet they are my favorite socks to wear so in the end i guess the 24$ socks weren’t so bad after all. it looked really awesome to use the same multi yarn 2 strands at a time [no pooling!] and it looks kinda mosaic-esque.
i am a dyehard wool knitter….preferably just wool. superwash is fine but eh…usually costs more.
I would love to know how to knit socks…yrs ago I used to live in the apt building across the street