The Perfect Socks to Knit for a Road Trip

I have said this before (probably a lot, because it’s true) but whenever I’m planning travel knitting projects, I always try to include a pair of socks to work on.

Socks are great for travel because they’re small but still (often) take a long time to knit. They don’t take up a lot of space in your bag, and usually there’s a repeating pattern that’s easy to memorize, or the directions are compact enough to easily carry with you. And if you’re stuck in a car or on a plane for many hours, you may find that second sock syndrome disappears.

I say “may” because that sock I knit on vacation last year still doesn’t have a friend.

The Roam (If You Want To) socks by Joji Locatelli are great to knit on your adventures, or to wear when you’re roaming around the world. They feature lots of fun cables, including big loopy cables on the top of the foot and smaller cables on the back of the leg.

Gauge is given in Stockinette stitch, and you’ll definitely want to check yours before you start, since all those cables will make a big difference in how the sock fits (cables pull in the fabric so you’ll need more stitches than you think).

You also might want to test some of the cables in the yarn you want to use to make sure they look good. The sock is pretty in a subtle multicolored yarn or a solid, but if the yarn gets too colorful it might be hard to see all the work you put into those cables.

They’re worked from the top down and include charts for the cable patterns. (I’m not sure if they are also written out; if you buy this pattern let me know!) There are two size options, for a foot circumference of 8.5 or 9.75 inches.

You can grab a copy of the pattern from Ravelry.

[Photo: Joji Locatelli]

Super Sweet Ruffled Socks Knitting Pattern

Waves Socks– Free Knitting Pattern
These cozy Waves Socks are a lovely choice if you want a handknit sock pattern with a little texture but nothing too fussy. The gentle scallop stitch creates a soft wave effect, making them pretty enough for gifting but still practical for everyday wearing. They’re worked in light worsted weight yarn, so they knit up a little faster than fine sock yarn socks too.

Ladies Lace Top Socks – Free Knitting Pattern
These Ladies Lace Top Socks are a sweet step up from a basic handknit sock, with a delicate lace cuff that adds just the right amount of pretty. The rest of the sock is worked mainly in stocking stitch, so it’s a nice project for knitters who are ready to try sock shaping without making the whole thing overly complicated. A lovely handmade gift idea, especially if you use a soft 4-ply sock yarn.

Simple Short Socks Knitting Pattern

Book Review- Getting Started Knitting Socks

Free Pattern Sadie Socks

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

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