I love socks, believe it or not, since I haven’t posted anything about socks in ages. For awhile they were all that I was knitting, and usually about four pairs at a time at that. If you’re wondering about the socks shown above the yarn is from Gaslight Dyeworks on Etsy and the color is Bikini Bottom. I actually don’t recommend this yarn, because two of the pairs I have knitted with it have gotten holes. I knit these Monkey Socks out of her Bluebird of Happiness colorway many years back, and they had a hole after wearing them just twice (if memory serves).

The second pair (shown on the right above) are the Copper Penny Socks by Nancy Bush. I love the pattern and will knit other socks with this easy lace. If you look at the toe, the red marker shown there is where there is a hole. I was not even finished knitting the socks and they got a hole! To have two yarns from one source get holes that easily seems like more than a coincidence. I just cut the socks from the ball and started a plain stockinette pair, because I didn’t feel like ripping back to that hole and starting all over and I needed a plain pair for mindless sock knitting. Sooooo…these are actually the only pair I have on the needles right now.

I usually knit socks toe-up two-at-a-time with a heel flap using the magic loop method. The first time I did this, I used this pattern, but I’ve made a few of my own tweaks here and there to suit my style.

I have made socks so many times this way (at least 25 or more), though my Ravelry project page will never reveal that because in the past I have been lazy about taking pictures of everything and posting them. I tried them once from the cuff down (my first socks) using double pointed needles (DPNs). It was ok, but I wasn’t in love with them. I tried to knit using two circulars and knitting both at a time. I hated it. I kept knitting onto the wrong needle. Many people love either of these methods I have discarded. I just happen to have my favorite. Magic loop requires only one long needle, so I like it when making hats or things that would otherwise might require the purchase of both DPNs and a circular needle.

Regardless, it is easy to make myself socks. I don’t know if I’ve actually written my own measurements down somewhere, but I just jam them on my feet and see how long they are on the foot to know when to start my heel flap, or heel turn. When I make them for other people, I either have to sneakily investigate how long a foot of that size is, or I have to just measure the recipient’s feet. I measure the widest part of the foot, total length, and length to ankle. The width is to know how many stitches to cast on, I knit until the foot would reach the ankle, and then I start the heel flap and continue until it is .5 inches (1.3 cm) from the total length of the foot. Sometimes I keep this information in my contact info for a person in my phone, so I always have it.

For instance, the fella’s phone contact info includes: CO 32, inc to 72, 19cm then heel flap, 26 heel turn. That’s pretty much all I need to know to make him a pair of socks. That’s why I love socks. I like writing this in centimeters, because it feels more precise by being a smaller unit. This chart is obviously written for top-down socks, but you can still get info about the total foot length if you need to be sneaky. Obviously, everyone has slightly different feet, but this chart can help get you there with a little less guessing.