Knitting

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Giveaway: Getting Started Knitting Socks

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getting started knitting socks

Our winner is Dianne S.

There really is nothing better than a cozy pair of handknit socks on a cold day, and if you’ve never had that feeling because you’ve never knit a pair of socks before, I’m here to help.

This week’s giveaway is a copy of Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. This is a nice little book with more than a dozen patterns starting out with the most basic socks in a variety of sizes and gauges and moving on to striped, textured, ribbed, cabled and lacy projects.

In this one book you’ll find a nice range of projects to try as well as a step-by-step tutorial on all the different steps that go into sock making and tips for adding your own color or texture to socks (and some sample stitch patterns to get you started).

This is a great book if you’re just learning to knit socks, or if you have a couple of pairs on your feet and want to learn a little more about how to make socks that are completely individual.

If you’d like a chance to win this one, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, November 16. Why don’t you tell me what experience you have knitting socks or why you’d like to learn if you don’t already know.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

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

Looking to buy your Yarn online? Check out these online yarn specials.

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Comments

  1. My husband has been wanting socks since I started knitting, but I have been too intimidated to try so far.

  2. Have knitted over 50 years but only tried socks once. Can’t find anyone to show me the proper way to do it, but from what I hear, this is the book that can do the job. Would love to win a copy

  3. Oh, to have a helping hand to knit socks! I can’t quite get beyond scarves and mittens. It is so sad to have lost the generations who had these skills, before they could pass along their know-how. Or maybe I was not ready to learn until now! I would love a chance to learn!

  5. The first socks I knit were knit using Regia yarn and lasted years! Not so much for socks knit with other yarns. But the first socks were plain and newer pairs were knit using fancier patterns. Thankfully my daughter loves hand knit socks so I can knit as many pair as my hands can handle.

  6. Me,me! Lol
    I have knitted yoga socks for a friend and myself and a pair of socks in the past. I jumped from scarfs to socks. I am known as the daredevil knitter in my community. Fun fun!
    I would appreciate and am greateful for the chance to learn and share among my peers.
    Thank you

  7. I learned to knit from my grandmother who taught me the basic techniques of knitting and crocheting. I thought that I had long forgotten how to, until one day I got the bug to start again at the age of 50. I have since knitted scarves galour, a blanket, and dish cloths. Knitting gives me a therapeutic calm as well as the enjoyment of using my hands to make a gift for someone. Learning to knit socks would be fun, and my brain would like the challenge!

  8. I am a newbie to knitting and have just started taking classes but I love it! I can’t wait to get home each day so I can knit a few rows. And I love socks, fun colorful socks so they are on my list to do once I get a little more proficient!

  10. my college age daughter is always sending me links to sock patterns! I really need to take the plunge – maybe we should learn together! thanks!

  11. If there’s a a simpler way to knit socks, please, count me in! My last three attempts have been complete and utter failures!

  13. I wear only my own hand knit socks . I became a sock addict around 2 years ago. I’d love to have this book to give to my sister. She lives 300 miles from me and has just started her first pair. I don’t see her very often and her last visit included a lesson in turning the heel.

  14. I knit this and that but socks sound exciting. A nice little project. I’d love to have the book for inspiration.

  18. Ann Budd is my most Favorite Designer!! Hers’ are the books I am forever borrowing from the library and digital collection! The three available for E-reading are either on my bookshelf or on hold list. This one is on the hold list. 🙁 Own a copy would be a very awesome life event!

  21. I have made ONE sock and that was a huge wool one that we felted for Christmas…this year we visited a lama etc farm and I saw that my hubby purchased. A or of their handknit socks..SO now that we are retired snowbirds the time has come for me to make him a pair..any help would be greatly appreciated..

  22. I’m a beginner knitter – basic squares and scarves. But my mother is pretty experienced. I would love to win this book so I could gift it to her, and in return she would knit me a pair of warm, fuzzy socks. So I guess that would be a win-win situation!

  23. I love knitting sock but so far have only knitted two at a time toe up and have been afraid to try top down this would help me get out of my rut.

  24. My first pair of socks are dreadful, my heels are confused and one my toes will finish up vertically instead of horizontally. I learn so much better from books with great detail about what I’m doing while following the pattern. This would be an awesome win. I’m not discouraged about this first pair and I’m ready to get back on the sock knitting horse.

  26. I would love to learn how to knit socks. I have knit miniature socks and would like to move to adult size.

  27. knitting – I learned from my Aunt Do. She would sit and knit for hours and let me watch and copy. I’m the only left handed girl in the family so I learned by copying each move she made, Yes my work was backwards, but I loved every moment. Now that I am older and have more time I have returned to find loom knitting. But, I look longingly at the socks patterns and plan to try ing the near future.

Have you read?

Book Review: Cable Knitting Stitch Dictionary

Stitch dictionaries are a fun way to learn new-to-you knitting stitch patterns or to take a deep dive into a particular technique. Debbie Tomkies offers 100 cable stitch designs and thoughts on how to incorporate them into projects in her Cable Knitting Stitch Dictionary.

Each stitch pattern is shown in a large swatch photo and with written and charted instructions. Any special stitches are included on the page. The stitches are rated on a difficulty scale of 1 to 3, and the pattern notes also indicate how many extra stitches you should add to a project if you’re going to work this cable (since cables pull the fabric closer together you need to compensate for that) as well as how many stitches and rows are in the repeat if you want to design a project yourself.

The cables are arranged into sections: classic cables, combinations, all-over panels, creative cables, motifs and panels and cabled edges and borders.

It’s fun to flip through the designs to think about projects you can add a single cable or two to or make with an allover cabled design. Or you could make swatches of different cables and sew them together into a pillow cover or a throw.

At the back of the book there’s a section on general cable knitting techniques, reading charts, working swatches and avoiding errors (though it mentions working the wrong number of rows between cable turns, it doesn’t share how to count rows between cables to avoid this mistake).

It also talks about how to design your own cables, combine cables in a project, choose the right yarn and needles and determine how many more stitches you need to cast on when working cables instead of stockinette stitch. There’s also a glossary of symbols and abbreviations you may find in cable knitting and other patterns.

The book provides a good overview of things you can do with cables, as well as some fun things you might not have tried like infinity cables and horizontal cables. It’s a great book for a designer who likes to work with cables or a knitter who wants to play with different stitches in their projects.

About the book: 176 pages, paperback, 100 stitch patterns. Published 2024 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $26.99.