If you’re new to knitting and you know other knitters, you’ll probably hear about the magical nature of sock knitting. It’s a genre of knitting that intimidates a lot of beginners, but more seasoned sock knitters will tell you there’s nothing like knitting and wearing socks.
The trouble with sock knitting, though, is that there are a lot of places you can go awry, and a lot of things you might not know until you learn them the hard way. Lisa K. Ross seeks to dispel some of the trouble spots of sock stitchers of all skill levels with her book Sock Knitting Success.
The book attempts to lay out all the options that are before you as a person who wants to knit socks, including different materials and dye styles of yarn, types of needles, toe up or top down and different kinds of heels and toes.
She emphasizes the importance of getting gauge, but also notes that once you know what needles you can get correct gauge with, you might not ever have to swatch again because sock patterns tend to be built on the same gauge (8 stitches per inch/2.5 cm, which is what she uses for the 11 patterns in the book). The book also goes into a lot of detail about how to measure a foot and determine the right size sock to knit for the person who will be wearing it.
While she has preferred methods for making her socks (using a 9 inch circular, afterthought heel, round toe, using Tillybuddy’s very stretchy cast on, a tutorial for which is included) she provides a lot of options and of course the patterns use a variety of methods so new sock knitters can try different techniques and learn their favorites. There’s also a quick overview of using cables, lace and colorwork on socks and blocking.
A chapter on modifying patterns gives knitters guidance if they aren’t getting gauge, have a high instep or a wider leg than foot. There’s also a troubleshooting section to help deal with fit issues, tight cuffs and other problems.
Patterns are arranged by skill level on a scale of one to three. Four patterns are for newbie sock knitters, three for inquisitive knitters looking to build skills and four for experienced sock knitters who might want to try something new.
The beginner pattern, Thick and Quick, is a vanilla sock worked with DK weight yarn for quick progression. Anywhere Anytime is the basic sock in sock yarn, and Easygoing is a simple sock worked from the toe up.
There’s a ribbed sock, one with an afterthought heel, one with an easy textured stitch pattern and columns of mini cables, an easy diamond lace pattern, a textured sock with twisted stitches and a diamond motif, a more complex lace design in a toe up sock, a toe up sock with cables and lace and an allover colorwork design.
The cables, lace and colorwork are all charted, so having familiarity with reading charts is helpful for those projects. The book offers solid basics and some more interesting socks so that knitters of all sock skill levels should see something they like and maybe learn something new, too.
About the book: 144 pages, Flexibound, published 2026 by Quarry Books. Suggested retail price $26.99.
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