Review: Easy Knitted Socks

I’m sort of doing a sock week over at About this week, so it seemed appropriate to review a little sock book over here as well.

Easy Knitted Socks, compiled by Amy Palmer, is a booklet containing 14 projects. It starts with tips on knitting in the round and making jogless stripes and then provides a nice variety of patterns for socks rugged and romantic, for kids up to adult men. Many of the projects have multiple sizes, though they don’t always say which size corresponds to what sort of foot, so you may still need to measure the foot you want to fit to find the ideal pattern and size.

Some of my favorites include the Ribby Retro Socks by Chrissy Gardiner, which look like classic athletic socks (but in a cute way); Jennifer L. Appleby’s Uptown Boot Socks, featuring a delicate allover cable pattern; Gardiner’s toe-up Wooly Toe Socks, worked in stripes and sized to fit kids and adults in crew length or knee high styles (they use an afterthought heel, too, which is pretty fun); the Tyrolean Stockings form Ann Budd, which are pictured on the cover; and the pretty, lacy Socks for Véronik by Mona Schmidt.

None of the patterns are rated by skill level, and there isn’t a plain Stockinette sock in sight, so this may not be the best book for beginner sock knitters. But if you have a couple of pairs under your belt and you’re ready to try something that’s a little bit more challenging but still not difficult, this book has a great collection for all sorts of styles and all kind of feet.

[Photo via Interweave/F+W.]

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.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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