Review: Knitted Socks

March 17, 2015 by Sarah White

This book — Knitted Socks by Anna Tillman — has been on my shelf for years and I always feel like I have reviewed it but apparently never did.

That’s a shame, because it’s pretty darn cute, as you might gather from the penguin socks pictured on the cover. It covers the basics of sock parts and how to knit them, knitting the right size, reading charts and finishing socks and includes 25 patterns for a range of sizes and using a variety of yarns and knitting techniques.

There’s a pair made of rainbow colored eyelash yarn, for instance, and felted slippers that are knit like giant socks. There are socks with cables, colorwork and lace, and simpler striped socks, too.

And there are toe socks. Which I love. The pattern is called Rainbow Toes and each toe is worked in a different color, and the colors are repeated at the top of the knee-high cuff.

Other standouts include The Whole Hog, which features colorwork pigs that make a whole picture when you put your feet together; Zigzag Socks, a fun pattern worked in a bold self-striping yarn; Fly Away Home, baby-sized ladybug socks; Going Dotty, a double-knit pair worked with circles throughout; and Cable Cuffs, which start from a band of cable worked flat, seamed and turned on its side to make the top of the sock.

There’s also information in the back on different heel, toe and ribbing options to help you design your own sock, as well as a kind of blank pattern to get you started.

Want a chance to win this book? Check out this week’s giveaway (ends March 22, 2015).

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.

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]