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There’s nothing quite like the lush, cozy feeling of hand-knitted socks! Quick and satisfying to make, small and portable, socks remain one of the most frequently hand-knit items today.
Following the wonderfully successful Knit How, Pom Pom’s essential beginner’s knitting book, and the pullover compendium Ready Set Raglan, Pom Pom brings you Ready Set Socks, an exploration of sock designs for new and advanced knitters alike.
A collaboration with legendary sock maven Rachel Coopey, Ready Set Socks is the ultimate guide to sock-making! Get ready to experiment, discover the magic that is turning a heel, and become a seasoned sock knitter. The book includes ten unique patterns in both 4-ply / fingering and DK-weight versions.
From simple and speedy stockings and ribbed socks to fancy mosaic knitting colour combinations, you’ll be sure to find your perfect pair with this compendium of patterns to come back to again and again.
Recently I was chatting with an old friend about sock yarn. She knits a lot of socks, and she wears a lot of socks, and she’s been making them for a while. I asked her about which yarns she uses over and over, which socks she likes the best, and which socks have lasted the longest. The point in the Venn diagramm where beauty, quality and longevity met was one of my all-time favourite sock yarns, Schoppel Crazy Zauberball.
Schoppel Crazy Zauberball a 2ply marled sock yarn that knits up in an ombre gradient. The stripes in it are never narrow and the shifts are never jarring, but things are always changing, which keeps things fun when you’re knitting (especially if you’re just working on a pair of vanilla socks). It isn’t a new kid on the scene, but maturity comes with benefits, including a broad palette and lots of colours to choose from.
You may have already extrapolated that Schoppel Crazy Zauberball washes and wears extremely well. To prove it, I asked my friend to bring some of her socks by for a little photoshoot. All of the socks above are OVER TEN YEARS OLD, none have holes or thinning from wear, and they have definitely been worn. She doesn’t do any special laundering acrobatics, (she says she washes them on a cold water cycle with detergent and a cup of white vinegar, and then hangs them to dry). They were a little bit pilly, but not badly so, and it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be cleaned up lickety-split with a disposable razor. (I gave them a little steam to get them photo-ready, but they didn’t need anything more than a little shvitz to bring them fully to life).
My grandmother once told me she knitted my grandfather a pair of argyle socks, and he wore a hole in them while walking to work the next day – it still makes me cringe, these are the stories knitters tell around campfires. I don’t know about you, but if I’m spending 20 to 30 hours making a pair of socks, I want them to have looooooongevity.
Schoppel Crazy Zauberball embodies everything we want in a sock yarn – beauty and longevity! It’s a marvelous, self-striping yarn with a long colourway. The yarn is made from 2 plies, each a different colour, which creates a marled effect as well.
When it comes to sock yarns the Germans do them best – they always bring the besst quality products to market. Schoppel Crazy Zauberball is soft but also a very hard wearing yarn with 25% nylon, so your socks should wear well and last a long time (depending on wear and washing, we have clients who have had theirs well over a decade and they’re still going strong). We believe that if you’re going to put 20 to 30 hours of love and labour into a pair of socks then it’s worth it to make them with a yarn that’s going to last!
When it comes to gifting socks for the holidays, I have a few key elements that are on my must-have list:
They must be soft and comfortable – if nobody wants to wear them then what’s the point in making them?
They must be machine washable AND stand up to wear. Once they leave the wrapping paper these socks are in the wild, they must be able to defend themselves!
They need to be pretty, or interesting, or have something unique about them. Complicated is definitely not necessary, but some kind of design feature should be present to create a bit of a WOW factor.
It can’t take forever to make them …. the thinnest yarn I want is a DK weight. House socks are a perfectly legitimate holiday gift, especially for wearing around the house during the holidays.
Berroco’s Vintage line of yarns is ideal for just such a purpose. They’re all super soft, machine washable, made with nylon so your socks will wear well, come in a bunch of pretty colours, and come in DK, Worsted and Chunky/Bulky weights, and they’re all affordably priced, so you’ll still be able to afford to go discount hunting after the holidays.
When doing a K2P2 rib (also known as a 2×2 rib) always go down a full mm in size. 2×2 rib is looser that stocking stitch and you need the smaller needlet to get the proper tension.
K1P1 rib (1×1 rib) is naturally nighter than the 2×2, and you don’t need to go down as much to get the right tension (half a mm is fine).
AYLA uses Berroco Vintage Chunky to quickly whip up a fast, super pretty pair of house socks. These socks are knit from the top down with a simple cable repeat worked on the front and top of the foot, as well as the back above the heel flap. The instructions are for two circular needles (see tuturial working in the round on 2 circular needles), but you can use any sock knititng technique you prefer. with a simple cable repeat worked on the front and top of the foot, as well as the back above the heel flap.
Skill Level
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate
Cable knitting is super simple, don’t let it intimidate you, you’ll love it!
Size
Approximately 8″ around leg and foot x 10″ from top edge to top of heel
KEEL are classic boot socks for men that work up quickly in Berroco Vintage DK. They feature contrast stripes on the toes and cuff. They’re made with a traditional top-down construction with a heel flap.
Skill Level
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate
Size
Approximately 10″ around x 8″ to top of heel flap
Materials
Berroco Vintage DK: 2 skeins, 1 in each of 2 colours (shown in 2107 Cracked Pepper and 2134 Sour Cherry )
Tin Can Knits make great patterns that are clear, easy to follow, and always come in a range of sizes for the whole family. These simple boot socks are sure to please everyone!
These socks are super cute and show how a simple, vanilla sock can come to life with a few extra colours thrown in. Berroco Vintage Baby in smaller 50g skeins, which are super convenient when you want to introduce extra colour to your project. It also comes in a palette of bright, pretty colours, perfect for happy colour blocked socks!
Skill Level
Advanced Beginner
Size
22.5 (24, 25) cm long (Or whatever length you like)!
These unisex socks make a great gift – in darker colours they’re handsome, in brighter colours they’re pretty! They’re a classic top-down heelp-flap construction with a simple and sweet fair isle design.
Skill Level
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate
Size
Small (Medium, Large)
Materials
Berroco Vintage: 2 skeins in main colour, 1 skein in each of 2 contrast colours
So it’s time to come clean … I’ve always wanted a pair of candy cane socks. Barber-pole stripes are my favourite christmas aesthetic. The pattern is designed as tube socks, but it’s easy to add an afterthought heel.
Skill Level
Advanced Beginner to Intermediate
Size
Women’s sizes Small (Medium, Large)
7 (8.25, 9.5) inches in circumference, unstretched
8 .5 (10, 11.5) inches in circumference, comfortably stretched
14 (15, 16) inches long
When you’re deciding which size to make, consider getting the sock over your heel. That is the widest part of the journey, and these socks are not super stretchy! The size shown in these pictures is a Small.
Cold feet? These bulky slipper socks are just the ticket to keep your feet warm all winter. They also knit up quickly, and therefore make good holiday gifts. Even if you’ve never knit socks before, the bulky yarn makes these toe-up socks easy, and will teach you the skills necessary to knit other toe-up socks patterns. The pattern includes links to a four-part video tutorial.
OOPS! It seems the discount in our system didn’t want to work! So be it, let’s try this again, shall we? The digital bug has been rectified and the sale is actually saleing now! if you purchased something yesterday or this morning at full price that was supposed to be on sale we will fix that and refund the difference. Thanks for your patience! Haley
15% OFF some very Yummy Yarn when you check-out Online!
From June 6th, 12:01 am – June 19th, 11:59 pm
Discount will automatically be added in your shopping cart at check-out, you don’t need to do anything! You will see the discount code SOMETHING NICE automatically be entered. This discount can not be combined with other discounts or sales, except for items that are already marked down in our system, like Fibre Co Amble colour Helvellyn which is overstock and REALLY needs a good home).
15% OFF some very Yummy Yarn when you check-out Online!
From June 6th, 12:01 am – June 19th, 11:59 pm
Discount will automatically be added in your shopping cart at check-out, you don’t need to do anything! You will see the discount code SOMETHING NICE automatically be entered. This discount can not be combined with other discounts or sales, except for items that are already marked down in our system, like Fibre Co Amble colour Helvellyn which is overstock and REALLY needs a good home).
I’ve noticed people have kind of become accustomed to suffering and aren’t being kind to themselves …. don’t suffer, no matter what your grandmother said, it is NOT good for you! You aren’t going to grow any faster or learn more from suffering, it will never magically evolve into joy – it’s just blocked energy. When you lean into flourishing you connect with flow. Be kind to yourself, love yourself unconditionally, TREAT YOURSELF TO SOMETHING NICE! And if you’re afraid of ducking up your project because your confidence is in the off-position, then just choose something simple … that’s the nice thing about sexy yarns, they always look great, no matter what! Keep It Simple Sister.
Other People’s Projects
I thought you might enjoy this … my friend sent me this snapshot because her husband just doesn’t appreciate the magnitude of her triumph …. it’s the yarn she had left at the end of her project. She fought the yarn-shortage Dragon and won!
One of her kids wanted some camo socks and she wanted to take advantage of the Urth Uneek Worsted (ON SALE!) before it disappeared (sorry, that particular colour disappeared onto her needles – I also tarted up the colour a bit, it was VERY camo-drab, colour 4006 Cocoa Nibs).
The other kids got a pair of Langfield hats, also made with Urth Uneek Worsted (1 skein each). Again, don’t hold me accountable for other people’s photography – the photo above (4004 Bird of Paradise)is very close to the actual yarn colour, but the one below (4005 Sunset) looks a bit duller than the yarn in the store …. could be a dye-lot thing. She used 1 skein per hat.
Langfield is a great hat project for any yarn that knits in a long colourway. It’s modular, so you can use any thickness of yarn – a great stashbuster and one-skein project!
Please note, when I post other people’s projects I always confirm what level of privacy they are comfortable with. In this case, my friend is cool sharing her pictures and experience, but she’s a private person and would otherwise prefer to stay anonymous, so I have linked the pictures to the general patterns on Ravelry.
The Fire Co is hosting a Sock Knit-A-Long (KAL) starting June 1st! the KAL is Free and Knitters of any skill level can join (Fibre Co’s ‘one sock’ pattern is ideal for novices). If you’re a beginner sock knitter this is a great opportunity to take advantage of the free resources offered though the KAL!
They are kicking off their “Month of Socks” with a Zoom party hosted by The Fibre Co. founder Daphne, One Sock designer Kate Atherly, and knitting teacher Renée Callahan.
The party starts June 1st at 5pm BST | 12 noon EDT | 9am PDT
The party is the first event in The Fibre Co’s month long celebration of sock knitting focusing on the #TheFibreCoOneSockKAL. You only have to do one of two things to be able to take part in the KAL and to win prizes:
1. Knit the One Sock pattern in any yarn (see the white socks below).
OR
2. Knit any sock pattern in Amble yarn (see below for some inspiration).
If you would like to join the KAL on 1st June, please register by clicking the link below!
We just received a big restock or Malabrigo Rios (and are expecting more to come in in a couple of weeks). There have been so many constraints over the last year, finally being able to get a decent re-stock feels so good!
Should not already be familiar with this wonderful yarn, Malabrigo Rios is a super-duper soft, machine washable yarn made from 100% merino wool. It’s hand dyed for subtle variations, and is great for anyone and any project except felting (it will not felt). Rios is specially suitable for babies, kids (it makes great hats, sweaters, blankets, etc). The dyeing tends to have a watercolour effect and it always seems to knit up even more beautiful than in the skein. The base yarn is silky soft and springy with lots of body. Whenever I can I like to use it for projects I make for my niece and nephew (sometimes the colours don’t fit their very specific requests).
Because this yarn is hand-dyed no two skeins are alike (for the multi-colours different skeins within the same bag can look different). We always try to match the skeins as closely as possible when we send them out. To get the most consistent colour distribution possible, it is always suggested with hand-dyed yarns that you work with two balls and alternate them every couple of rows. Here’s a Videoto help you with this.
Photo: Angeldogknitter on Ravelry.com
Flax
Make. All. The Sweaters. Malabrigo Rios has been used 889 times on Ravelry to make Tin Can Knit’s FREE pattern, Flax. Flax is an all-size design (but it’s limited exclusively to humans; canine, feline, avian, and reptilian sizes are note included) and will fit babies to the largest primate (you may need to make modifications if you’re knitting for one of our cousins on the evolutionary tree … and good luck getting a sweater on a gorilla outside of Photoshop).
Your needle sizes and yardage amount will vary based on the size you’re making, so I won’t list them here, but they’re basically:
Malabrigo Rios has been use 539 times to make this particular pair of socks, Rye. Rye is a great pattern for new sock knitters, it includes how-to instructions, and a full size range from baby to Adult L. Whether you’ve retreats the the cottage, your back-yard or the public park, socks are a great small project that travels extremely well and makes for a very impressive holiday gift.
BTW – getting your winter gifts done over the summer is the absolutely most satisfying feeling you’ll ever experience. It involves a little delayed satisfaction, but come October you’ll be extremely pleased with yourself, especially when you get the itch to make something nice for yourself and you find that you can!
Size
Baby (Toddler, Child, Adult S, M, L)
Finished Cuff (unstretched): 5 (5.75, 6.5, 7.25, 8, 8.75)” around
Finished Leg (adjustable): 2.5 (4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8)”
Moss on the Old Oak is the kind of warp I yearn for on cool says and nights from the spring to fall. It’ll knit up beautifully in either the multicoloured or semi-solid colourways of Malabrigo Rios, and the pattern is offered in three sizes. It’s an advanced-beginner skill level, which is a nice niche for the spring.
The Fibre Company has paired up with several designers this spring for an exhibition of sock-spiration with their new (ish) sock yarn, Amble. All the Amble deets are at the bottom, below the gorgeous sockies, but to sum it up its a super soft and yummy yarn that was designed with as small an environmental footprint possible.
The Fibre Company’s yarns always come with happy energy, when I open a shipment from them it’s like meeting someone new who you know will become a good, lifelong friend. Their corporate tag-line is “Yarn for projects you’re proud of”, but their behind the scenes mantra, what really motivates them, is Sustainability (which is something that I think also takes a lot of integrity).
Anyway, ideals aside, if you want to work with a yarn that’s HAPPY, give Fibre Company Amble a whirl. The patterns below have all been knitted with Amble, and if you bought a copy of 52 Weeks of Socks you’ll definitely want to check in out, it’s ideal for textures, single coloured sock patterns. To help get this awesome yarn into your hands, Fibre Company Amble will be 10% Off from now until the end of the month (the discount will automatically be added in your chart at check-out, so you don’t need to jump through any hoops). Just promise me one thing – don’t delay this particular gratification. Don’t stash it this yarn, get it on your needles and use it NOW! Everyone needs a little boost, and everyone deserves happiness.
Hedera
Hedera by Coraline Kerisit features a delicate lace pattern reminiscent of the shape of leaves. Sample shown in Amble, shade Isel.
Mind Garden
Mind Garden by Yucca has the option for two beautiful patterns on the leg. Samples shown in Amble, shades Buttermere and Scafell Pike.
Wollaton Socks
Wollaton Socks by Emily Joy Rickard features interlinked cables moving into a rib texture across the foot. Sample shown in Amble, shade Windermere.
Mara Socks
Mara Socks by Zsuzsanna Orthodoxou features a lattice stitch and reinforced heel. Sample shown in Amble, shade Buttermere.
One Sock Pattern
To go along with Amble, The Fibre Company has also come out with a universally sized pattern called One Sock, a classic top-down sock pattern to fit all feet. With lots of opportunities to customise the fit and design, this pattern comes with the ‘One Sock Guidebook’, a resource that walks makers through the process of knitting beautiful socks that fit. You can find the pattern HERE. The pattern is written by Kate Atherly, one of the best knitting teachers I’ve ever come across. In my opinion, this pattern is a great deal for someone who is new to sock knitting. I know the pattern is supposed to be the main attraction, but I think the guidebook alone is well worth the cost of admission!
Fibre Company Amble
The Fibre Company Ambleis a soft, beautiful, and eco-friendly sock yarn! It’s super soft, squishy, and gorgeous to work with and wear. The composition is a springy 2ply fingering weight full of body. While it’s perfect for socks, it also makes great hats, mitts, shawls & wraps, sweaters – anything you want to wear against your skin. Plus, what really made me extra happy is that it’s made with environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and uses recycled nylon to further reduce its environmental footprint (read more below).
70% Easy-wash Merino wool, 20% Easy-wash alpaca, 10% recycled nylon (see below for details)
100g/325m (355 yds)
Fingering Weight
32 sts per 10 cm / 4 in
2.5 mm/1.5 US needles
Machine wash on wool cycle or hand wash at 30C / 86F. Dry flat.
We are CLOSED on Family Day Monday, February 15th.
Photo: Tin Can Knits
Rye
in honour of Family Day, I say let there be socks! I’ve always loved these simple socks, and they knit up lickety-split with worsted weight yarn and 3.75mm needles. Rye makes a great first sock for beginners or something quick & easy for more experienced knitters (the designers even have an online sock tutorial for sock newbies). And the FREE pattern is written for the entire (human) family, from baby to all the adults.
Notes
Women’s socks should require about 1 skein/100g of and of the yarns listed below, for men’s socks I’d get a second skein (or make them shorter). Socks tend to be stretchy, so an Adult small isn’t really all that small and fits my size 8.5 feet.
If you don’t like double pointed needles never fear, you can try using some super short circular needles from Chiaogoo. The 9″ length is good for children’s sizes and average women’s size socks. The 12″ circulars will work with men’s socks, and women’s shoe sizes 10 & up (or if your feet are 12″ in circumference or larger).
Leg (adjustable): 4 (6.5, 8, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5) inches
Cuff: 5 (5.75, 6.5, 7.25, 8.25, 9) inches around
Yarn Suggestions
All of these yarns are 100% machine washable. If you want to really wear these sock hard, like in winter boots, I suggest you go with a yarn that has a good amount of nylon in it, likeBerroco Vintage or Berroco Comfort Print. If they are intended as house socks any of the following suggestions will be gorgeous:
137(160, 182, 228, 274, 319)m or 150 (175, 200, 250, 300, 350) yds of a machine washable worsted weight yarn (see list above). Women’s socks should require about 1 skein/100g of yarn, for men’s socks I’d get a second (or make them shorter).
The Fibre Company Ambleis a soft, beautiful, and eco-friendly sock yarn! It’s super soft, squishy, and gorgeous to work with and wear. The composition is a springy 2ply fingering weight full of body. While it’s perfect for socks, it also makes great hats, mitts, shawls & wraps, sweaters – anything you want to wear against your skin. Plus, what really made me extra happy is that it’s made with environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and uses recycled nylon to further reduce its environmental footprint (read more below).
70% Easy-wash Merino wool, 20% Easy-wash alpaca, 10% recycled nylon (see below for details)
100g/325m (355 yds)
Fingering Weight
32 sts per 10 cm / 4 in
2.5 mm/1.5 US needles
Machine wash on wool cycle or hand wash at 30C / 86F. Dry flat.
Made in Peru
All about the Yarn
When The Fibre Co. set out to design a sock yarn, they stayed true to their guiding principle of harnessing the beauty that nature provides in a way that is gentle on our planet. They waited until a recycled nylon and an alternative to the standard chlorine processed washable wools became available. The end result is a soft yet durable yarn from Merino wool and alpaca fibres processed with an eco-friendly, anti-shrinkage Easy-wash treatment. The recycled nylon adds strength and durability. The shades are borrowed from the successful palette in their Cumbria yarn with the cream and all heathers using a natural ecru Suri alpaca whilst the others use a natural brown Suri alpaca.
What does ‘Easy-wash’ mean and why do they use it? ‘Easy-wash’ is a trademarked name that refers to a process used to make the wool and alpaca fibres in Amble machine washable without shrinking. The Easy-wash method is chlorine-free and AOX-free, making it the best environmental choice for producing machine-washable wool. The wool and alpaca fibres are treated with eco-friendly oxidants to remove the scales that ordinarily cause wool and alpaca to shrink when washed by machine. The oxidants used are sourced in Germany and are certified under the REACH, Oeko-tex and ZDCH (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemical) standards. This means that the Easy-wash treatment does not create hazardous chemicals, which is not the case with most machine washable wools in today’s market.
Much of the available machine washable wool yarn is made with a chlorine treatment process that produces high levels of toxic Adsorbable Organohalogens, known as AOX. While yarns produced in this manner are not known to be toxic to the user, AOX used in the treatment end up in wastewater and have a detrimental impact on tributaries, wildlife, and fauna.
What is recycled nylon and why do they use it? Nylon fibre is not easily biodegradable. However, it has strength qualities that give yarns and the socks made there from more durability. The recycled nylon used in Amble comes from leftover industrial waste of processing nylon, thereby diverting waste from landfills, and using fewer production resources like water and fossil fuels than virgin nylon.
One Sock Pattern
To go along with Amble, The Fibre Company has also come out with a universally sized pattern called One Sock, a classic top-down sock pattern to fit all feet. With lots of opportunities to customise the fit and design, this pattern comes with the ‘One Sock Guidebook’, a resource that walks makers through the process of knitting beautiful socks that fit. You can find the pattern HERE.
The pattern is written by Kate Atherly, one of the best knitting teachers I’ve ever come across. In my opinion, this pattern is a great deal for someone who is new to sock knitting. I know the pattern is supposed to be the main attraction, but I think the guidebook alone is well worth the cost of admission!
Rye Light is a great pattern that leverages a simple texture to make the most of a solid or semi-solid coloured yarn like Amble. It’s a great pattern for beginners, and it comes with it’s own instruction built into the pattern (the designers even wrote a How to Knit Socks Tutorial). It ranges from size Baby up to Adult Large, and best of all, it’s a free pattern.
Amble also makes a great sweater yarn, especially for fair isle. The yarn has a lovely depth of colour, a heathered look which actually comes from the naturals colours of wool and alpaca blended together. It’s a springy two-ply yarn that soft to the touch (no itchies) and a pleasure to work with. I especially like the fair isle sweaters designed by Jennifer Steinglass, but it’ll be gorgeous in any suitable pattern, for adults and children alike.
Solvi starts at the neckline and is worked seamlessly from the top down, and in the round. Short rows shape the back and neckline of this sweater. The colourwork yoke is knit, then the body and sleeves are then separated- stitches for the sleeves are transferred to spare needles or waste yarn and underarm stitches are cast on. The body is worked on one circular needle and finished with a ribbed hem. Sleeve stitches are then transferred to knitting needles, the underarm stitches are picked up, and the sleeve is knit top to bottom, finishing with a long ribbed cuff.
Needle A: US 4 / 3.5 mm DPNs (if desired) or 32” (80 cm) or longer circular needles for magic looping cuff, 16” (40 cm) or 32” (80 cm) or longer circular needles for magic looping (neckline), and 24” (60 cm) or longer circular for hem ribbing.
Needle B: US 5 / 3.75 mm DPNs (if desired) and 32” (80 cm) or longer circular needle for body and magic looping sleeves.
Knit-o-Matic Yarns 