Crocheter wants to knit socks

[wawa]

Hi crafty gncn! I learned how to both knit and crochet as a wee tiny Wawa but crochet is what stuck. But since I learned so young at least the basic knit/purl is apparently like riding a bike and I can still pick up two sticks and make it happen. (Tested it recently)

I impulse bought some sock yarn, and I think I want to knit some socks. I could crochet them, but I know crochet socks are gonna be crap compared to knit.

Do I want circulars or DPNs? I'm drawn to circulars because it seems way more intuitive than DPNs, but are DPNs easier?

Also any favorite basic beginner sock tutorials?

ETA- socks are happening! Updates below.

[statgirl]

I like to knit two at a time and toe up: www.10rowsaday.com/two-at-a-time-socks

I like two at a time so they match and I don’t get second sock syndrome and toe up so I can adjust (plus it gets the hard and boring part done first).

[mala]

2 circulars are probably going tobe easiest. Most sock knitters use circulars with the magic loop method or two circulars. I'm in the minority in that I haaaate circular needdles and prefer DPN. I would say DPN are NOT easier because at the cast on it can be very cumbersome to figure out what needles goes where and how to align everything. It take's some practice. The advice I give anyone starting on socks is to NOT read the whole directions before you begin. I find that it gets really overwhelming and can be hard to visualize the construction. I find it best to take one step at a time. After your first one, it will become much easier to picture when you read the pattern.

[wawa]

Jan 13, 2021 19:06:41 GMT -5 statgirl said:

I like to knit two at a time and toe up: www.10rowsaday.com/two-at-a-time-socks

I like two at a time so they match and I don’t get second sock syndrome and toe up so I can adjust (plus it gets the hard and boring part done first).

this is the method that made perfect sense to me, but one of the tutorials I was reading was all, "THIS IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS!  DO IT A DIFFERENT WAY FIRST!"
Think I can safely ignore that?  like advanced crochet skills translate to cover the basics of knit (yarn tension, some of the pattern reading, the general feel for how things come together, etc) and also who cares if I screw it up?  I feel like the first two rounds and toes and heels are going to be a clusterfuck no matter what method I choose.  Accurate?

Also this is blatant retail therapy because my crochet queue is MANY projects deep with things I've already bought the yarn for, and yet here I am wandering off....buying new knitting needles.

[statgirl]

I am a proficient knitter and a basic crocheter now, but I did the two at a time method on my first socks when I was an adventurous beginner and it was fine. I love circulars and am just now using DPNs after a decade (I am making tiny birds for a banner). I even have tiny sock circulars so I don’t have to magic loop. But 2 at a time forever because I know my laziness. I hear you on the retail therapy—I have so much yarn and so many interchangeable needle sets but have been eyeing fancy crochet hooks.

[wawa]

Jan 13, 2021 20:52:07 GMT -5 mala said:

2 circulars are probably going tobe easiest. Most sock knitters use circulars with the magic loop method or two circulars. I'm in the minority in that I haaaate circular needdles and prefer DPN. I would say DPN are NOT easier because at the cast on it can be very cumbersome to figure out what needles goes where and how to align everything. It take's some practice. The advice I give anyone starting on socks is to NOT read the whole directions before you begin. I find that it gets really overwhelming and can be hard to visualize the construction. I find it best to take one step at a time. After your first one, it will become much easier to picture when you read the pattern.

thank you for the one step at a time suggestion.  I had to keep that in mind on the last "new skill" crochet project I started - got into cables and skimming the pattern I was like, "wait...wut?" but once I just got into it row by row it all made perfect sense.

[wawa]

Jan 14, 2021 10:13:30 GMT -5 statgirl said:

I am a proficient knitter and a basic crocheter now, but I did the two at a time method on my first socks when I was an adventurous beginner and it was fine. I love circulars and am just now using DPNs after a decade (I am making tiny birds for a banner). I even have tiny sock circulars so I don’t have to magic loop. But 2 at a time forever because I know my laziness. I hear you on the retail therapy—I have so much yarn and so many interchangeable needle sets but have been eyeing fancy crochet hooks.

lol, this is the answer I wanted.    thank you for giving my justification.  

[aprilsails]

I always knit socks two at a time on circulars using the magic loop method. I made my first pair of socks one at a time on DPNs and wanted to poke out my eyeballs by the time the second sock was finished. Socks were my second ever knitting project so they are very doable with determination.

My big advice if using circulars is to make sure that you knit loosely. The stitches can be an absolute nightmare to slide along the needles if you knit too tightly.

[dragon's breath]

I went from "here is how you knit, here is how you purl" to "ok, here are five needles, let's start socks" in about an hour (my mom is a tough teacher!!) She had me knit a about a 3" square before she threw it all at me (my whole reason for learning to knit was to make socks, that's still pretty much all I knit).

She'd send me home to continue on, and then when I'd get to the next step, I'd come see her and she'd teach me the next thing, send me home, etc. So, socks can definitely be taken up by a beginner, but personally, it's easier if I have someone to show me (I'd never read a pattern before, never knitted, and the only thing I could crochet was a basic granny square after watching youtube videos).

Anyway, I use dpns, with a pattern that uses five of them. I do top down, and one at a time. Maybe I'm just doing it all the hard way, but I love the socks. I have two sets of needles so I can work on one sock for a little bit, then work on the other. I go back and forth between them to make sure they line up well, then do both heels, work back and forth to the toes, make sure the length is even, then do the toes. It helps keep from the "I've done one sock, I don't want to have to do another" thing from happening, especially if it turns out I'm not the biggest fan of the yarn color/pattern.

[wawa]

I ordered some circulars online (along with even more yarn....I mean, shipping minimums, right?) so I'll be back with questions once I get to that point.
Not sure when that's going to be since I have two deadline projects (baby stuff) after the current blanket is wrapped up (finally on the border), but I'm itching to try it!

[aprilsails]

You’re inspiring me. I have been working on the same shawl for a year (Covid has murdered my ability to knit since I usually do it on drives and work travel), but I’m only half done. I got some new fancy stripy sock yarn for Christmas so I am going to cast on. I haven’t done a pair of socks in 4 years so I’m due!

[oregonpachey]

I am an avid sock knitter, so if you need help, please feel free to PM me.

[wawa]

Jan 20, 2021 16:48:19 GMT -5 oregonpachey said:

I am an avid sock knitter, so if you need help, please feel free to PM me.

Hey oregonpachey I'm going to tag you in here, rather than PM just in case somebody else has some insight into how I'm messing this up.  

I've mostly gotten the hang of the magic loop after several frogged attempts - I kept getting turned around on which direction I was going and which way things should face. A tutorial with somebody who kept saying, "PULL THE NEEDLE OUT OF THE SIDE WITH THE WORKING YARN!" finally made it click. 

But at my midpoint in the row (so the "end" that's actually the middle?  not back at my stitch marker) everything looks like hell.  I thought at first it was just laddering, but I'm fairly confident that's not what's going on here. The other side looks fine.  But when I hit halfway everything goes to hell - I've got this weird not really a stitch thing going on.  I thought at first I'd just dropped a stitch, but I decided to just knit over it for the sake of getting the hang of the increases before I just ripped it all back, expecting it to be a hole, but it's not a hole - it keeps being like that every row.  When I come to that stitch it's just this long ass piece of yarn that isn't properly looped around the previous stitch.  

I then thought maybe I was fucking up the increase, and that's why it was doing that, but then it should be happening on both sides? maybe? 

Stupid side - 


Normal side! (uhh, ignoring the inconsistent tension.  the muscle memory isn't all there yet.)

[aprilsails]

I don’t think your photos worked wawa. I feel like I know what you are describing from teaching others to knit, but I’m not certain.

[mala]

wawa, try your pictures again. As for which direction you're going, I know you said you figured it out, but you should also have the yarn coming off in your RIGHT hand. So you have two needles with loops, only one will have the tail of the yarn going to the ball. That should always be in your right hand when you pick your knitting back up. (provided you're a right handed knitter and not a lefty, if you're a lefty, it will always be in your left hand.)

[wawa]

mala aprilsails , let me know if you can see the picture now.

you can see in the messed up side - there's that yarn that's just going straight from one needle to the other.  I don't know what that guy's deal is and where it came from.

[aprilsails]

It looks to me as though you are doing an accidental yarn over and then dropping it on the messy side, that is causing the laddering effect. You have to be very certain that your yarn stays to the back and right when you start your next “row” of stitches. Also pull the last and first of row stitches as tight as you reasonably can. Everywhere else knit loosely though.

You’re doing really great for your first try. They honestly look great for a first timer. I’ve helped some friends make socks who have knitted hats and scarves for years and I’ve seen some crazy mistakes in my time as a Stitch & Bitch leader.

[mala]

I agree, loookslike youre flipping the wprking yarn over the needs oddly then dropping the extra, which is creating extra yarn and the laddering. The atitch look loose, but correct, except the way the working yarn is going over the needle.

[wawa]

ah, yep, that seems totally plausible. I just did a new round making sure my yarn wasn't looping over anywhere I didn't mean it to and it looks a lot better. it's still gappy at the turn, but it now looks like a loose stitch rather than a random yarn over.

[mala]

Jan 27, 2021 10:57:07 GMT -5 wawa said:

ah, yep, that seems totally plausible. I just did a new round making sure my yarn wasn't looping over anywhere I didn't mean it to and it looks a lot better. it's still gappy at the turn, but it now looks like a loose stitch rather than a random yarn over.

There's not an easy way to fix laddering that far back, but as you wash and wear them the extra yarn will work in somewhat and out wont be as noticeable. Also, I'm totally impressed that you're starting with jennys cast on for your first sock.

[wawa]

Jan 27, 2021 10:59:42 GMT -5 mala said:

Jan 27, 2021 10:57:07 GMT -5 wawa said:

ah, yep, that seems totally plausible. I just did a new round making sure my yarn wasn't looping over anywhere I didn't mean it to and it looks a lot better. it's still gappy at the turn, but it now looks like a loose stitch rather than a random yarn over.

There's not an easy way to fix laddering that far back, but as you wash and wear them the extra yarn will work in somewhat and out wont be as noticeable. Also, I'm totally impressed that you're starting with jennys cast on for your first sock.

it was only one afternoon's worth of work, so I'll probably just rip it out and start over (hopefully for the last time).
It feels satisfying just to see these little bits of knitting appear so quickly - progress feels invisible when each row takes 20 minutes+ like on the last crochet project I just finished (cabled afghan), but these little rounds just whip right out so i get to feel like I'm getting somewhere quickly and can stomach ripping it out till I get it right. 

[mala]

Jan 27, 2021 11:27:10 GMT -5 wawa said:

Jan 27, 2021 10:59:42 GMT -5 mala said:

There's not an easy way to fix laddering that far back, but as you wash and wear them the extra yarn will work in somewhat and out wont be as noticeable. Also, I'm totally impressed that you're starting with jennys cast on for your first sock.

it was only one afternoon's worth of work, so I'll probably just rip it out and start over (hopefully for the last time).
It feels satisfying just to see these little bits of knitting appear so quickly - progress feels invisible when each row takes 20 minutes+ like on the last crochet project I just finished (cabled afghan), but these little rounds just whip right out so i get to feel like I'm getting somewhere quickly and can stomach ripping it out till I get it right. 

I cant tell from your picture if youre making this mistake or not, but with Jennys JUDY'S* magic cast on, you need to remember to twist the stitches on the "back/heal" side of the sock. Just a note since I think most knitters forget that step when theyre just starting out with that cast on. If you do t twist them it womt really affect your finished product except cosmetically

*totally had the wrong J name for that method

[wawa]

Jan 27, 2021 11:53:13 GMT -5 mala said:

Jan 27, 2021 11:27:10 GMT -5 wawa said:

it was only one afternoon's worth of work, so I'll probably just rip it out and start over (hopefully for the last time).
It feels satisfying just to see these little bits of knitting appear so quickly - progress feels invisible when each row takes 20 minutes+ like on the last crochet project I just finished (cabled afghan), but these little rounds just whip right out so i get to feel like I'm getting somewhere quickly and can stomach ripping it out till I get it right. 

I cant tell from your picture if youre making this mistake or not, but with Jennys JUDY'S* magic cast on, you need to remember to twist the stitches on the "back/heal" side of the sock. Just a note since I think most knitters forget that step when theyre just starting out with that cast on. If you do t twist them it womt really affect your finished product except cosmetically

*totally had the wrong J name for that method

I really like the cast on!  I found it pretty straightforward, but I have zero things to compare it to.  I like that it's totally seamless though - I wish all my socks were like that. 
I think one of my attempts I forgot to untwist the back half, but I got it this time around.

[wawa]

I made toes! Not perfect but usably toe shaped.

Any thoughts on why I'm having a hard time with KFBs though? I have to wrestle the darn things every time on the knitting into the back. Is it just too tight?

[aprilsails]

wawa they look great! Yes, your yarn is just too tight if you are struggling with kfbs. It is super normal for a first time knitter and you will loosen up significantly as you go. Now you just have to go in circles for a while. It’s so fast.

[wawa]

Sock progress reporting in and Heel Question.



It's coming along. It's not perfect - my tension isn't consistent so there are rows and random stitches that are a little loose or a little tight but overall it's becoming a useable sock!

Getting close enough to start thinking about the heel. The pattern I'm using says this:
"The pattern includes a short row heel but I tend to use the Fish Lips Heel by Sox Therapist."

So....what would you recommend? The short row heel or fish lips heel....or something else?

[mala]

I probably wouldnt do short row on your frist pair. I personally prefer an afterthought heal, but I think I'm in the minority on that one, too.

[statgirl]

I do whatever is specified but if I do short rows, I do German short rows (https://www.thechillydog.com/2016/11/knitting-tutorial-german-short-row.html?m=1).

I also do flap and gusset: www.moderndailyknitting.com/flap-gusset-heel-recipe-toe-up-socks/

Truly, I choose based on looks.

[mala]

wawa, before you start your heel, look up how to put in a lifeline! If you have to rip out and redo your heel it will make it so much easier, you won't have to worry about ripping back too far.

EDIT: Youtube video about it youtu.be/FiqYUE_aHAw

[aprilsails]

I have done both and don’t think a short row heel is really all that different than the Fish Kiss Lips heel. It’s just a slight variation on a short row heel.

I generally do make the fish kiss lips heel for my own projects, but I bought it years ago and use it as my pattern base because I’ve done it so many times.

Either option, do put in a lifeline. mala had a really good suggestion there.