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kathrilI've tried to learn to knit probably ten times over the course of... about as many years.
I crochet (badly), and picked that up very quickly. Knitting always seemed ridiculously hard and complicated by comparison. I could not get my head around making both hands work together, or pulling the yarn through the loops without a hook on the end of the needle.
Then, last time I learnt to knit - just before Christmas - I tried to learn again and it just... clicked? I made a bunch of knit squares thinking I might seam them up and make a blanket (I loved crocheting blankets), then got bored. I really wanted to learn how to knit to make socks, so I decided to make some socks. There's some pictures and some rambling about it behind the cut.
This was the first pair I made, from acrylic yarn I had lying around. I went into these with the mindset of "well acrylic will make for sweaty socks and they probably won't fit but I am just going to Learn" and... they did fit? Amazingly? Acrylic DOES make for sweaty socks and I do not particularly want to wear them but I did Learn.
I usually hate video tutorials but I followed this one for the first sock and then knitted the second sock using the accompanying (free) pattern. I knitted these on DPNs which was a challenge in itself for the first few rounds but it was so much fun.
Since then I've knitted three different pairs (two in DK, one in actual sock yarn) and have a vanilla sock on my needles at the moment. They're all cuff down with a heel flap and gusset, so I probably need to mix things up on my next pair to keep things interesting.
Since I started knitting them I keep seeing people posting online in knitting circles and being like "I'm brand new to knitting, what do I need to know to begin knitting socks" and while there's a few people who'll be like "just try it!" they're usually outweighed by people going "nooo, socks CANNOT be your first project. you must spend a month of your life knitting a garter stitch scarf before you try anything else." which feels like such bad advice! I think with socks there's generally a mixture of mindless/repetitive knitting that you can zone out and watch TV/listen to a podcast/whatever while you do it, but also enough points of interest that require a little bit of concentration to keep things interesting throughout. Plus, they work up fairly quickly, so it feels about as close to instant gratification as you can get with a handcraft like this.
Of all the sock knitting process, by the way, what I love most is turning a heel. There's something so satisfying about how a really simple stitch pattern suddenly makes your knitting 3D and it's fun to go from "oh, i have a tube" to "ahhh, i have a tube that will FIT a foot".
These are my most recently finished socks. The yarn is by West Yorkshire Spinners and I definitely bought it because it's got subtle lesbian pride flag vibes, LMAO. The pattern is free on Ravelry.
I crochet (badly), and picked that up very quickly. Knitting always seemed ridiculously hard and complicated by comparison. I could not get my head around making both hands work together, or pulling the yarn through the loops without a hook on the end of the needle.
Then, last time I learnt to knit - just before Christmas - I tried to learn again and it just... clicked? I made a bunch of knit squares thinking I might seam them up and make a blanket (I loved crocheting blankets), then got bored. I really wanted to learn how to knit to make socks, so I decided to make some socks. There's some pictures and some rambling about it behind the cut.
This was the first pair I made, from acrylic yarn I had lying around. I went into these with the mindset of "well acrylic will make for sweaty socks and they probably won't fit but I am just going to Learn" and... they did fit? Amazingly? Acrylic DOES make for sweaty socks and I do not particularly want to wear them but I did Learn.
I usually hate video tutorials but I followed this one for the first sock and then knitted the second sock using the accompanying (free) pattern. I knitted these on DPNs which was a challenge in itself for the first few rounds but it was so much fun.
Since then I've knitted three different pairs (two in DK, one in actual sock yarn) and have a vanilla sock on my needles at the moment. They're all cuff down with a heel flap and gusset, so I probably need to mix things up on my next pair to keep things interesting.
Since I started knitting them I keep seeing people posting online in knitting circles and being like "I'm brand new to knitting, what do I need to know to begin knitting socks" and while there's a few people who'll be like "just try it!" they're usually outweighed by people going "nooo, socks CANNOT be your first project. you must spend a month of your life knitting a garter stitch scarf before you try anything else." which feels like such bad advice! I think with socks there's generally a mixture of mindless/repetitive knitting that you can zone out and watch TV/listen to a podcast/whatever while you do it, but also enough points of interest that require a little bit of concentration to keep things interesting throughout. Plus, they work up fairly quickly, so it feels about as close to instant gratification as you can get with a handcraft like this.
Of all the sock knitting process, by the way, what I love most is turning a heel. There's something so satisfying about how a really simple stitch pattern suddenly makes your knitting 3D and it's fun to go from "oh, i have a tube" to "ahhh, i have a tube that will FIT a foot".
These are my most recently finished socks. The yarn is by West Yorkshire Spinners and I definitely bought it because it's got subtle lesbian pride flag vibes, LMAO. The pattern is free on Ravelry.
