10 Months to Knit Socks

I knew knitting would be hard; I never imagined it would take me 10 months to finally knit a pair of socks. Back in October, I began the initial steps of learning to knit. Like most current wannabe knitters with zero knitting experience, I started with a compilation of Youtube videos and online tutorials to find out what were the basics of knitting I would need to know before diving into my desired project: socks.

The basics of knitting are to learn how to cast on, cast off, a knit stitch and a purl stitch. You'll also have to learn for more dynamic projects like socks how to increase and decrease your stitch count. Knitting patterns contain a lot of jargon and abbreviations that are not always explained so there was a lot of looking up terms. This Knitting Basics webpage from Better Homes and Gardens is very helpful for learning the basics and for identifying all the knitting slang.

From my experience in the very beginning, you'll need to practice your cast on, cast off, knit stitch and purl stitch over and over again to begin to feel comfortable with the process and learn how to recover from mistakes.

You can see some of my practice swatches and beginner needle recommendations here in this picture to the right.

I would also recommend for beginning knitters to use large bamboo, single point needles. Depending on what knitting pattern you choose for a project, different needle gauges along with yarn weight will be recommended. The bamboo holds the yarn in place well and the single point with a knob at one end avoids accidentally slipping stitches off the needle.

After you feel comfortable with the basics, I would then select a flat pattern to attempt - not socks - as your first project. Maybe a scarf or cowl, some boot cuffs or a head warmer might be a good first project. I think this project took me 10 months because I became frustrated with trying to knit socks as my first project. Inexperience, difficulty level (there are no real beginner sock patterns in my opinion) and without having a boost of confidence in seeing some type of finishing product made it very difficult. There were a lot of starts and stops and hours of work that ended up being unraveled.

I ended up selecting this pattern for socks. It is a pattern for infant socks. Mine came out more small child size. Honestly, I was nervous to attempt another adult size pair of socks. Not surprising, my first sock of this pattern took longer and was a little more sloppy than the second. And I never got the heel turn right on either so they both look a little more like beanies than socks. But, I'm counting it as a win.

Becky and I celebrating her 30th in Vegas last February!

Another big tip I can give is when learning to knit, find a friend who knows what they are doing and knit together. A huge thank you to my gal Becky who came over for several wine and knitting nights. Having an experienced knitter walk you through something you are doing wrong or show you some tricks is so helpful. For example. I could not figure out why when purling and knitting on the same row my stitches kept getting twisted. This makes it impossible to continue, and I probably watched 15+ Youtube videos to try and figure out the problem without luck. Becky fixed my issue in less than a minute (i.e. I wasn't moving my working yarn to the front of the needle [purl] and to the back of the needle [knit] when I was supposed to).

Also a shout out to Genuine Purl, a yarn and craft store on North Market here in Chattanooga. These ladies talked me through different yarn choices and needle options and had a beautiful selection of yarn. And while I didn't seek out their assistance with my pattern, I watched them help three different customers in one visit who just came in asking advice or wanted someone to look over their current project to help identify a mistake.

And the last tip I can give is when working a pattern, you need to create some type of chart to check off row counts. You'll get lost and forget how many you've done. Just make your knitting life easier and do the chart.

Will I continue to knit? Yes. Will I knit another pair of socks? Yes but I think I'll take a step back and try some other simpler, projects first. Any suggestions?

A little more slipper like socks. 

Bottom of the socks. 

Having four, double pointed needles going at one time is intimidating at first. Just focus on the two you're working with at the moment.