Back on May I posted here about ‘me starting my sock knitting adventure’. It has been a while that I wanted to share everything about it, all the tiny little details included in this delightful experience. There’s so much to tell and share, and I decided to tell each pair story separately. One pair at a time. I have already knitted 6 pairs by now, which is a dream come through. It’s hard to believe but yes I have knitted 6 pairs and have the 7th on the hook at this very moment. Today I’ll share the making of my VERY first pair of hand knitted socks.
I started by ordering everything needed for sock knitting. Following the Winwick Mum sockalong I first ordered myself a copy of Super Socks by Christine Perry – which turned out to be a brilliant purchase. I also ordered knitting needles: a set of DPN’s and a Short circular needles. I had some Regia sock wool that I bought a long time ago, on a market day in Bruges. Once I had everything needed I started practicing knitting. It was a long long time ago when I knitted something. I learned knitting from my grandmother when I was a child, just as I learned crochet – I do have very good memories of me and her playing with needles and yarns but I haven’t really knitted since then. So, I started by practicing Knit and Purl a little.
I knitted just a few rows, to get the feeling of these DPN’s and wool in my fingers and I felt ready to start my actual sock work. Step by step, following Christine’s pattern/book I started knitting a sock. I worked my first steps with a group of ladies here on our balcony garden. I tell more about it here. It felt like a magic to cast on and move my rib stitches onto the short circular needle. I think I took trillion pictures at this point as I was so so SO excited with this little circular knitting in my hands.
For my first pair I used West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply – colour Blue Tit. I wanted to create two identical socks, with the same stripe pattern, so following Christine’s instructions, I divided my 100 gr’ ball  into 2 balls of 50 gr’ each.
Luckily I have this wool winder so I used it to create a ball after I divided the original wool ball (I enjoy this wool winding so much). I knitted both socks in parallel. I found it much easier (for me) to work on both socks together. Maybe because it made me do everything twice which felt the right thing at that moment. Each sock on it’s short circular needle.
I can’t tell you how happy I was. The knitting using this small circular needle got me hooked, it is so much me. This tiny little work feels so right in my fingers. Having said all that I have to mention that there are quite a few things to learn here on this sock knitting process and not everything went that smoothly. However, all in all I just loved it, or more precisely, got addicted. Christine’s book and Video tutorials are so clear and easy to follow. Following Christine’s book made these steps much easier. Her pattern is very clear followed by close up pictures, her videos are so brilliant and helpful. She also created a Sockalong Facebook group which is a very supportive community.
My first heel flap and turn, YES this is me and my first knitted heel on my DPN’s. I love to learn new things. LOVE!! Shaping the Gusset. Well this was one of those steps where I told you, not everything went smoothly but still, I made it. So, not at the first trial but after one or two trials I finally made it. Not to mention the ‘holes’ you have to avoid while shaping the gusset, I will talk about it more on my next Sock Knitting blog posts. Well, now after knitting a few pairs I have learned and experienced different things and tricks about this little tricky detail. Knitting in bed is a treat for me, I know some of you clearly understand me here. I was knitting in bed as you can see in the above pictures and I was so happy with what came out of my hands and needles that I tried them on and sent funny pictures to my mom, sister and to my ‘crazy Whatsapp group’. 

I finally reached the point where my first pair of socks was almost ready. It was so much fun trying them on, even though they still had needles on them. It felt so special to wear my own hand knitted socks. I went all over the place showing off, modelling my socks. My kids laughed like crazy while I walked this ‘model walk’ around them. What will these kids remember from their childhood? Well they’ll have many jokes to tell about their mother. At this point, while taking the above picture, I had to learn how to make the Kitchener stitch, to close my sock with an invisible closing stitch. I found some nice video tutorials on Youtube but it took some time till I felt comfortable with it. Oh no, no, definitely not on my first pair of socks. Recently Christine has added her Kitchener Stitch video tutorials on Youtube and these are just super helpful. I can’t tell you how proud I was standing there in front of the mirror with my own very first hand knitted socks. This is a dream come trough. I know I have funny dreams but really, I wanted SO much to learn how to knit socks, for years. So, here I am, and these are my very own feet wearing my very own first pair of hand knitted socks and they are completely identical in their stripes pattern.  ^^ !! HAPPY ME !! ^^

So, if you think of trying sock knitting yourself, I think you’ll be very happy once started.
Here a few links for everything you’ll need before you start:
First start by ordering yourself a copy of Super Sock – this book will teach you the basic sock pattern. Written clearly, friendly and professionally by Christine Perry. And Join the Winwick Mum sockalong

Sock Yarn: you’ll need a 100 gr ball for one pair of socks. Start with something colourful that will lift your spirit with every rnd you knit, like these colourful ones.

Make sure you have:
The needed Needles:
DPN’s 2.5 mm these or these
Short circular needls: these or these

Row counter

Stitch Markers

Tapestry needle

Just one last thing before I’m logging off: Sock knitting is an addiction and don’t tell me later I haven’t warned you. I’m already addicted. I plan on sharing here so much more of this sock knitting addiction, but lets keep it one pair at a time. Thank you for joining me, xoxMo.

P.S
Thank you Lucy from Attic24 for inspiring me to start my own sock knitting journey.
Thank you Christine Perry from Winwick Mum for supporting my sock journey with your experience and with your knowledge .

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