Why Garment Knitters Should Try Knitting Socks
By Lauren Rad of A Bee in the Bonnet, Guest Blogger
It’s not unusual for knitters to fall in love with a particular type of knit item and knit that thing until they run out of steam. This is totally fine! But if you find yourself wanting to branch out into new areas of knitting, I have a little suggestion for you.
Specifically, if you have primarily been a garment knitter, I’d love to encourage you to try knitting socks. There is a surprising amount of overlap between the two, and they are wonderfully complementary, as well.
Today, in celebration of Socktober, we are going to look at several reasons I think garment knitters might want to give sock knitting a try.
1. Sock knitting uses skills you already have
I often see people talk about sock knitting as if it is this mysterious skill set. The truth is, skills you might need for knitting socks are skills you have already developed while knitting garments.
Depending on the kind of garments you have been knitting, you have probably already mastered the following skills:
knitting in the round
increasing and decreasing
picking up stitches
working ribbing
following shaping instructions
reading your knitting
understanding gauge and fit
While it’s true that sock knitting probably applies these skills in new and somewhat unfamiliar ways, learning how to use an old skill in a new way is generally much less scary than learning a brand-new skill from scratch.
2. Socks are an excellent place to practice new techniques
This might be somewhat surprising, but I think the socks are actually relatedly low-stakes projects compared to a garment.
For most of us, one sock will take no more than about 200 yards of yarn. Even if you screw up so badly at the very end of your sock that you have to rip the entire thing out, you only have to rip out about 200 yards’ worth of stitching. That’s much better than a garment, where, depending on the size you make and the weight of the yarn you’re using, you could be ripping out 1000 yards or more.
That makes knit socks an ideal place for testing out new skills. You can practice short rows, unusual cast ons, and new stitch patterns with very few repercussions if it goes poorly.
Learning these new skills and testing them out on socks also makes it easier to later apply them to garments. For example, I have pretty broad shoulders and have discovered that, when I knit raglan T-shirts, I need to drop the hems of my sleeves by using short rows so that they sit parallel to the floor. It would not have occurred to me to do that if I hadn’t first learned how to easily work short rows by practicing on short-row heels.
3. You still get to play with fit
Many garment knitters love to play with fit and customization options with their projects. They’ll change the ease, the gauge, the neckline, the ribbing, the cast-on method, and more.
While you shouldn’t really play with the ease of a handknit sock (in fact, you should always aim for about 10% negative ease on a sock pattern), socks are otherwise very similar to garments in that you have a lot of customization options. You can change the cast on, change the ribbing style of the cuff, add a gusset to the leg to improve the fit, use a different heel style, knit the leg a different length from what’s recommended by the pattern, and completely swap out one toe style for another.
These customization options can be a real rabbit hole, so don’t say I didn’t warn you! But they are also what led me to falling in love with sock knitting and eventually designing sock patterns.
4. Socks get used up, so you have a great excuse to make more
A common complaint I see from my friends who are primarily garment netters is that at some point, they have knit so many sweaters While it is true that garments do wear out over time, the process is fairly slow compared to the process of wearing out socks.
Now to some people, this might be a drawback. Why spend all that time knitting a thing that’s going to wear out within a couple of years? Well, if you’re the type of person who loves knitting things and just wants to knit, now you have an excuse to keep knitting! The socks wear out, and even with mending, they will eventually need to be replaced.
5. Socks take up less storage space
The other common complaint I see from my garment knitter friends is that they run out of space to store their garments. That makes sense, when you think about it. A full-size garment for an adult takes up a decent amount of room, even when folded.
But socks! Oh, socks are so small in comparison! You could fit a dozen socks in the space of one sweater. If you’re like me and go through periods where you are knitting somewhat frantically so that you end up with more finished knits than you can wear for a while, being able to store them easily is a nice bonus.
And remember Point 4, above. You will wear them out, and probably quicker than you would expect. It’s good to have extras waiting, because once you get used to how nice it feels to wear cozy, warm, handknit socks, the store ones just don’t quite do the trick anymore.
6. Socks can make you a better garment knitter
Even if you knit a few pairs of socks and don’t find yourself falling head over heels in love with them, it’s still time well spent. The skills that you build while knitting socks can transfer back over to garment knitting, too. It’s not just the specific techniques used in sock knitting, either.
Working with different sized needles and yarn helps you build your fine motor skill across all types of knitting. As you change things up, you build more of a sense of how to keep your stitches consistent no matter what size needle or yarn you are using.
You’ll also get lots of practice with small circumference knitting, which can be extremely helpful for sleeves, especially their cuff.
If you are knitting a sock pattern that uses a heel flap and gusset, your skills with picking up stitches neatly will grow, and that’ll directly translate to sleeves and collars on garments.
In fact, the more you understand about how knitting one type of item works, the more general knowledge you have that can be applied to knitting other types of items. Knowledge is never wasted.
But what about…?
I know there are a lot of concerns that keep people from attempting socks, so let’s address some of them here and see if that might help you feel more comfortable giving it a try.
Tiny needles are intimidating/I hate using DPNs
Now, about those needles. You don’t have to use DPN’s, and they don’t have to be toothpick sized. While I do prefer knitting my socks with pretty small needles, you can do DK-weight socks or even worsted-weight socks with much larger needles than sock knitters use for fingering-weight socks. I hate double-pointed needles, but I have found that 9-inch circulars are a great fit for me. Other socks knitters love magic loop, FlexiFlips, knitting with two medium-length circulars, and more. There are lots of different methods for knitting socks, so you don’t have to use one that isn’t comfortable for you.
I don't wear handknit socks
This is probably the trickiest concern, and the one that is hardest to get around. I live in Southern California, so there are several months out of each year when it is simply just too hot to wear socks of any sort, let alone handknit socks that tend to be thicker and made of wool.
But I have found that there are times when I find the handknit socks are really nice to have. I like them for camping in colder weather to keep my feet warm, wearing inside boots on rainy days, and snuggling up on the sofa with a good book during winter time. While my handknit socks may not be an everyday wear for me, I wear them enough, so the effort to make them is worth it for me.
On the other hand, if the knit socks truly just don’t fit into your lifestyle, that’s okay. Different lives are structured in different ways, and we don’t all have to do the same thing all the time.
I’m worried they won’t fit me
One of the most frequent challenges I encounter from sock knitters is that they have trouble getting a sock to fit them well. It’s crucial to know that you want your sock to fit kind of snugly around your feet. Aim for 10% negative ease, that is, your socks circumference is about 10% smaller than your actual foot circumference. That’ll make it stretch enough around your foot to stay snug without being uncomfortably tight.
Beyond that, you may end up going down a bit of a rabbit hole about different sock heels and toes. Different heels and toes are suited to different foot shapes, so just because something is the easiest for you to knit doesn’t mean it’ll be the best fit for your particular foot.
I have lots more information in this blog post about how to get socks to fit just right. Do not be disheartened if your first pair or two don’t quite fit the way you’d like them to. It’s a little bit of a process of experimentation for all of us.
In the end, even if you don’t end up getting completely sucked into sock knitting like I did, it can be a fun way to play around with yarn and build new skills without pressure. Sprinkling it into your knitting rotation can be kind of like taking a break from baking cookies to make a pan of brownies every now and again. Sometimes, it’s just nice to change things up a bit.
Bio
Lauren Rad is the knitwear designer behind A Bee in the Bonnet, where she creates soft, romantic knitting patterns inspired by vintage fashion, literature, and a love of beautiful textures. Her designs emphasize elegant simplicity, easy-to-memorize stitch patterns, and portable projects, particularly socks and accessories. When she's not designing, Lauren enjoys tending her rose garden, searching for sea glass, and spending time with her family.
Explore Lauren's knitting patterns, tutorials, and blog at A Bee in the Bonnet or follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/abeeinthebonnet/ .
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