So my biggest craft fail to date has been socks! This year I did much better at making loads of Christmas presents, especially for my friends at Christmas 2. Last year, however was a different story. I thought it would be quick and fun to knit a pair of socks for each of the 3 guys in my group. I was wrong. It took me a week less than A WHOLE YEAR to knit them all. I think this is partly because once I’d missed the deadline, there wasn’t really a rush to finish them! It also meant, though, that I didn’t knit much else during the last year as each time I thought about it, I realised I should finish the socks first!

I used a free pattern from a little wool shop in Inverurie so I’ll copy it all out here in case anyone wants some knitting punishment. These are not the first thing I knitted in the round, but they may well be the last…..

Pattern: To fit medium adult
Abbreviations:
k                   knit
p                   purl
St(s)            stitch(es)
P2tog         purl 2 sts together
Ssk2tog     slip next stitch knitways, put point of left needle into front of both these sts and knit them together
DPN           double-pointed needles

You will need:
1 x 100g Ball of Trekking or Opal 4ply sock yarn and a set of 2.5mm DPNs, stitch markers and a needle to sew in the ends.

Tension:
36sts and 48 rows to 10cm using 2 1/2 needles.
Place your stitch markers on your needles when required in the pattern and pass them from left needle to right needle as you reach them.

Sock Ribbing:
Cast on 60 sts (loosely). Divide these sts evenly over 3 DPNs.
Check carefully that sts are not twisted.

Bringing your 4th DPN into play, join into a round and mark the start of round, working in a k2, p2 rib pattern for 16 rounds (the first few rounds are always fiddley, however, after a few it does get easier!).

Cuff:
Rounds 17 – 73 (66 rows): knit (by ‘knitting’ every round, you will make stocking stitch).

Heel Flap:
Knit 15 sts, turn.
Row 1: slip first st, p29, turn.
Move rest of sts to spare needles.
Row 2: slip first st, k 29 sts, turn.
You will now be working back and forth on these 30 sts and repeating row 1 & 2 a further 14 times (you will have worked 30 rows in total).

To Shape The Heel:
Row 1: slip first st, p16 sts, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 2: slip first st, k5, Ssk2tog, k1, turn.
Row 3: slip first st, p6, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 4: slip first st, k7, Ssk2tog, k1, turn.
Continue in the same way by taking in one more st every row until all the sts from the heel flap are included. You will now have 18 sts on this needle.

Sorry, blurring photo! And apparently I stopped taking pictures at this point…..

Gusset:Pick up 15 sts knitwise down side of heel flap, place a marker. Knit 30 sts from cuff, place a marker, pick up 15 sts knitwise from the other side of heel flap. Arrange these 78 sts on 4 needles and bring a 5th needle into play).

Gusset Shaping:
Round 1: k to within 3 sts of first marker. K2tog, k1, k to next marker, k1, Ssk2tog, k to end of round.
Round 2: k
Repeat rounds 1 & 2 decreasing until you have 60 sts left on your needles ending with a round 2.

Foot:Knit 48 rounds (or desired length, take out or add in rounds depending on length of foot – I made 2 pairs this length and one pair with 56 rows for my tall friend with large feet).

Toe Shaping:
Round 1: knit to 3 sts before first marker, k2tog, k1 (slip marker), k1, Ssk2tog, knit to 3 sts before next marker, k2tog, k1 (slip marker), k1, Ssk2tog, k to end.
Round 2: k
Repeat rounds 1 & 2 until 24 sts are left, ending on a round 2. Knit to first marker.
The knitting part of the Sock 1 is now complete. All that remains is to arrange the toe sts so that they can be grafted together.
Grafting is a wonderful way of invisibly joining knitting sts.
You need to arrange the remaining sts onto 2 needles so that the first 6 and last 6 sts of a round are on one needle and the mid 12 sts are on a second needle.

Grafting:
Cut yarn leaving a 20cm length to work your grafting.
Thread your length through a needle. Hold the 2 DPNs together parallel with the thread hanging from the back sts at the right.
Put the needle purlwise into first st on front needle and pull yarn through.
Put the needle knitwise into first st on back needle and pull yarn through.

Then:*Put needle knitwise into 1st st on front needle and slip st off knitting needle. Put needle purlwise into next st on front needle and pull yarn through. Put needle purlwise into first st on back needle and slip st off knitting needle. Put needle knitwise into next st on back needle and pull yarn through.*

Repeat from * to * until all the sts have been grafted.
Secure the only 2 ends you have neatly to the inside of your sock.
All that’s left now is to knit your second sock!

I found the pattern pretty easy to follow, except the last bit about the grafting – I didn’t do it right so the toes all looked a bit odd. But I was kind of passed caring by the time I got to the end!