Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Free Sock Pattern – Easy Toe-Up Socks

by

socks From http://tiajudy.com/putmeon.htm

Why toe-up socks? Ahhh, let me count the ways:

  • It’s a new technique to learn
  • You can try them on as you go – perfect fit
  • If you’re short on yarn, you can knit the important part first, then knit up until you run out of yarn.
  • And…. it’s a new technique for you to try out.

Great beginner pattern, check out her site called String and Air! http://tiajudy.com/putmeon.htm

Looking for more knitted socks designs and patterns to keep you warm this winter? Check out these knitted sock patterns on Etsy.

Comments

  1. Now that you mention it, knitting toe-up socks makes more sense. I usually knit the regular kind but will give this pattern a try. Thanks for sharing it.

    Cathy

  2. I like toe up because I can’t master the kitchner stitch and my toes always end up looking horrible!

  3. Want to try the toe-up style because the cuff-down doesn’t seem to fit as good as it should.

  4. Just love toe-up socks — it’s easy to try them on as you go along, and there are no seams or joins at all. And my kids (in their 40s!!) love them.
    Just spotted an ad for knitting both socks at once, using circular needles — good idea, will try it next time, instead of having to keep track of # of rows to duplicate on other sock.

Have you read?

Book Review: The Wandering Knitter

Knitting and travel are two hobbies that are highly compatible. Travel often involves waiting or time spent on planes, trains, boats, etc., time that can easily be filled by knitting, a portable and productive craft you can do most anywhere (and yes, you can take your knitting on a plane most of the time). 

Krista Ann combines knitting and traveling regularly and ended up visiting every continent in 2022 with her knitting needles along for the ride. The Wandering Knitter explores travel, knitting and learning new knitting skills no matter where you are. 

This isn’t a book for beginners, but if you’ve wanted to learn techniques like brioche, cables, lace, colorwork, mitered squares and short rows, there’s a set of more beginner level patterns followed by ones that are bigger, more detailed or required a little more skill. For example a brioche washcloth is the beginner pattern, while a brioche sweater (with unexplained exceptionally long sleeves) is the stepped up project. A basic mesh lace scarf becomes a more complex lace kerchief. A giant mitered square cowl graduates to a mitered square tote bag. 

Interspersed among the patterns are essays about traveling to different continents and what she saw there. There are also tips for traveling with your knitting and tips for reading charts, but no tutorials for knitting skills (other than a written explanation of how mosaic knitting works). 

Some of the projects would be useful to have when traveling, such as fingerless gloves, a warm headband or a colorwork hat. The travel angle is an interesting hook for a book, but I would have enjoyed essays more about specific incidents or shopping for yarn in a different country or something more than the general essays about things she’s liked and places she’d like to go back to. 

Still, if you’re looking for a skill building book that doesn’t focus on the basics but gives you some wearable, attractive accessories, this book is a good one to check out. Just maybe make the sleeves shorter if you knit the sweater. 

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 20 patterns. Published 2026 by Quarry Books. Suggested retail price $24.99.