Knit Socks on a Circular Knitting Machine

My love for the circular knitting machines doesn’t seem to be letting up. I do still knit (and crochet) a lot, but I also enjoy playing with these machines to see what can be done with them and often make things with them that I wouldn’t knit otherwise.

I recently bought a 22-pin Sentro knitting machine, and one thing that I have seen a lot of people do with it is knitting socks. I was skeptical to say the least, but I figured I should give it a try.

I made a simple pair of tube socks in just a couple of hours (the one I stopped to take photos of took 41 mintues) and it was super fun. They’re actually really cozy, too!

These are made with worsted weight yarn (Lion Brand Heartland in a fun tweed colorway) and I need to experiment with using lighter weight yarn (I think a DK weight sock would also fit an average sized foot, but I haven’t tested it yet) and also play with adding ribbing at the top and maybe a heel (which I think would have to be handknit, but I’m not sure).

Since it’s a tube sock, the only part where fit is potentially problematic is around the top; if you have a large calf and your sock top isn’t very stretchy it might not fit. You can also make them shorter than I did so you don’t have to worry about that as much.

I did a single crochet “bind off” at the top of my sock, but if you leave a long enough tail you could also just bind off with knitting, which might also make it a bit stretchier.

You can see my socks and how I made them over at Our Daily Craft. If you’ve made socks on a circular knitting machine before I’d love to hear your recipe and if you’ve done anything beyond simple tube socks. I’ll definitely update you when I’ve done some more experimenting!

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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