Basic Sock

Tutorial
By
Isela Phelps
Welcometotheworldofknittingsocks!Ifyouarereadingthisshorttutorialonsockloom
knitting,itmeansthatyouarereadytoembarkinoneofthemostgratifyingprojectsofyour
life!Apairofhandknitsocksmeansonlyonethinglovefortherecipient.Hundredsofhours
cangointoapairofsocks,especiallyifyouareknittingapairofsocksforasize14shoe!Having
saidtheabove,pleasedonotgetdiscouragedasyouseethetimetickawayandyourknitting
barelygrows.Socksaretimeconsuming,besuretoplanplentyoftimeforthisspecificproject.
Howmuchtime?Anaveragepair,inwomenssize,cantakeapproximately40hourstoknit.

SockKnittingBasics

Yarn:Chooseayarnthathasnaturalfibers.Naturalfibershaveinherentcharacteristicsthatwill
allowtheitemtobemorebreathableandelastic.Whatdoesthismean?Itmeansthatyour
feetwontgetassweatyastheyarnwillallowtheairtopassthrough.Elasticityisespecially
niceasyouwantyoursockstogomoldtothewearersleg/foot.Theyarnwillstretchwhile
thepersoniswearingitandhugtheirfoot/leg.Oncethewearerremovesthesock,thesock
willgobacktoitsoriginalshape.Naturalfiberssuchaswoolalsoprovidesthewearerwith
warmthandbecauseitisanaturalfiberitcanalsokeepmoistureout.

Now,whatthicknessofyarndoyouneed?Wellthatalldependsonthetypeofsockyouwant
tomakeandtheloomyouwillbeusing.

FingeringweightyarnissuggestedforsocksworkedonanExtraFineGaugeSockloom.Sport
weightyarnissuggestedforsocksworkedontheFineGaugesocklooms,sometimeseventhe
SmallGaugeloomscouldwork.Doubleknittingweight(DK)issuggestedforsmallgauge
knittinglooms.Worstedweightyarnissuggestforregulargaugeknittinglooms.

Loom:Hereiswhereyouhavetodecidewhattypeofsocksyouwouldlike.Doyouwant
slipperstylesocks,ordoyouwantsocksthatyoucanwearwitheverydayshoes,orwithheavy
bootswhileouthiking?Eachoneofthesewillrequireadifferentloom.Ifyouwantchunky,
slippersocks,thenaregulargaugeloomwilldogreat.Ifyouwanteverydayweartypesocks,
thenyouwillneedanextrafinegaugesockloom,thissockloomwillprovideyouwiththe
tinieststitches,thereforeyouwillneedtousethethinnestyarns.Ifyourchoiceistomake
thick,woolensocksforhiking,thenyouwillwantsomethinginthesmallgaugerange.

Stitches:Whattypeofstitchescanyouuseonsocks?Inthisarea,theskyisthelimit!Youcan
worksocksinanystitchimaginable.Combinationsofknitsandpurls,cables,lace,colorwork,
everythinghasagreenlightwhenitcomestosockmaking.However,itishighlysuggestedto
keepthesoleportioninstockinette(allknitstitches).Astockinettesolewillprovidethewearer
withthemostcomfortablefeelundertheirfoot.Remembertokeepthecharacteristicsofthe
stitchesinmindwhendesigningthetopofyoursock.Cablestendtomaketheitemsmaller,
shrinkitinwidth.Lacetendstomaketheitembiggerinwidth.Acombinationofknitsand
purlstendtogiveitaniceflattruewidth.

Howdoyoubegintoworkasock?Well,grabasockthatyouhavearound,inspectit.Ifyou
lookatitclosely,youwillseethatasockisbasicallyalongtube.Ithasalittlecupfortheheel

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tofitin,andthenitistaperedformorecomfortaroundthetoearea.Ifyouhavemadeahat,
youcanmakeasock.Remember,itisjustaverylonghat,albeitsmallerincircumference.

Socksareworkedwithanegativeease.Asyouknityoursocks,theywillappearsmaller,thatis
okay.Youwantthesocktofitsnuggly.Howmuchsnuggly,anywherefrom1020%smallerthan
thewearerssize.Thecharsprovidedaretaking10%negativeeaseintoconsideration,ifyou
wantthemsmaller,pleaseadjustthenumbersaccordingly.

Inthistutorial,wewillworkasockfromtheTopDownmeaningfromthecufftothetoe.We
willdoabasicsock,basicallywhatweknowasaTubeSock.Thetubesockwillhavenoshaping
atall.Thetoeareawillbegatheredjustlikethetopofahat.

PracticeTubeSock
WewillmakeatubesockforaMan,size8shoe.Wearegoingtomakehimanicepairofthick
hikingsockswithworstedweightyarn.

Firstthingyouneedtodoisworkaswatch:Whatisaswatch?Aswatchisasmallpieceof
knittedfabricworkedspecificallywithoneintention:tofindthegauge.Gaugeisthenumberof
stitchesandnumberperrowsyougetwithinan1inchofwork.Typically,gaugeismeasured
over4inches.

Worktheswatch:Workasmallsquare,pieceofknittedfabricinthestitchyouplantouse,with
theyarnyouwanttouse,withtheloomyouwanttouse.Thesquareshouldbeattheminimum
a6x6inchsquare.

Findthegauge:Laytheitemonaflatsurface,getarulerandmeasurethenumberofstitches
yougetin2inchesofwork,thenthenumberofrowsyougetin2inchesofwork.Countallthe
stitches,1/2stitches,1/4stitches,allofitcountsandwillmakeadifference.

Nowthatyouhaveyourgauge,youarereadyforthenextsteps:

Locatethefollowinginformationonthetablesbelow:

Footcircumference:_____

Leglength:_____

Footlength:_____

Knittingloomgauge:_____

Knittedgauge:____

Howmanypegs#:_____

Didyoufindit?Nolookingaheadtrytofinditonyourown.

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Hereistheinformationfilledin:

Footcircumference:8.75

Leglength:9.25

Footlength:10

Knittingloomgauge:RG

Knittedgauge:10

Howmanypegs#:40

HowdidIfindtheinformation?

Forthefootcircumference,simplygototheMenchartandfindtheshoesize,theninthe
followingcolumnsyouwillfindtheLegLengthandtheFootLength.TheKnittingLoom
GaugecamefromthetableSuggestedAmountofYarn.TheHowmanypegs#camefromthe
tableSuggestedNumberofPegsforSock.Thelastoneisprobablythemosttrickyofthemall
toassess.Youwillneedthefootcircumferenceforthisone,aswellasthegaugeyoureceived
withyouryarnandtheloom.Basedonthenumberyoureceivedinyourgauge,youwilllocate
theFootBallCircumference,andinthecolumnontherightlocatethenumberofpegs
suggestedforthatsizeoffootcircumference.Inourexample,thefootcircumferenceforashoe
size8isan8.75.Myknittedgaugewas20stitchesat4inches.(Seebluehighlightedrowinthe
chartbelow),thefootcircumferencefallsbetweenthe8and9.

SuggestedNumberofPegsforSock(accordingtogauge)
Gauge(4inches) FootBallCircumference SuggestedNumberofPegs
36 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 48(56,64,72,82,90,98)
32 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 44(50,58,64,72,80,86)
28 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 38(44,50,56,64,70,76)
24 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 32(38,44,48,54,60,64)
20 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 28(32,36,40,46,50,54)
16 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 22(26,28,32,36,40,44)
12 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 16(,18,22,24,28,30,32)

Inthisexample,Ihave3choices:choice1:choose8,whichwillgivemeapegnumberof36;
choice2:choose9,whichwillgivemeapegnumberof40;choice3:gobetweenthetwo
numbers,8and9,andthusendupwithanumberbetween36and40,therefore38.Iamgoing
tochooseoption2.

Iamnowreadytobeginmysock:

Iwillusearegulargaugesockloom.Setitupat40pegs.Useworstedweightyarn.Iwillmake
theleglength9.25incheslong,andthenthefoot10incheslong.

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InstructionsforTubeSock

UsingMC,onaregulargaugeloom,caston40stitches,jointoworkintheround.

Round112:*k2,p2;repfrom*totheendofround.

Round1215:ktotheendofround.
K=knitstitch
Round1620:JoinCC,ktotheendofround.
P=purlstitch
Round2122:PickupMC,ktotheendofround.
MC=Maincolor
Round2326:PickupCC,ktotheendofround.CutCC,leaving6 CC=Contrastingcolor
inchyarntail.

Nextrounds:PickupMC,knituntilitemmeasures19.25inches
fromcastonedge.

Bindoffwiththegathermethod.

ThankyouforjoiningmeforthistutorialintoloomknittingaBasicSock.Thetablesprovided
willhelpyouonyourjourneyonceyouexplorethetypicalshortrowheelsock.

Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactmeatpurlingsprite@gmail.com.Thistutorialwas
preparedforLoomKnit.com.

2007IselaG.Phelps www.loomknit.com
Thefollowingtableswillhelpyouinyourjourney.Findtable,thatfitsyourneedsandfollow
thesuggestednumbers.

SuggestedNumberofPegsforSock(accordingtogauge)
Gauge(2inches) FootBallCircumference SuggestedNumberofPegs
36 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 48(56,64,72,82,90,98)
32 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 44(50,58,64,72,80,86)
28 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 38(44,50,56,64,70,76)
24 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 32(38,44,48,54,60,64)
20 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 28(32,36,40,46,50,54)
16 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 22(26,28,32,36,40,44)
12 6(7,8,9,10,11,12) 16(,18,22,24,28,30,32)

SuggestedAmountofYarn
Loom Toddler Child Women Men
Gauge
Fingering EFG 270 350 450 550
Sport FG 210 280 380 450
DK SG 200 250 350 400
Worsted SG&RG 180 225 320 350

Children
Shoe FootCircumference(inches) FootLength(inches) LegLength(inches)
Size
4 5 4.25 4
5 5.25 4.75 4.5
6 5.5 5 4.75
7 5.75 5.25 5
8 6 5.5 5.25
9 6.25 6 5.5
10 6.5 6.5 5.75
11 6.75 6.75 6.75
12 7 7 7
13 7.25 7.5 7.5

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Women
ShoeSize FootCircumference(inches) FootLength(inches) LegLength(inches)
5 7.5 8.75 8
6 7.75 9 8.25
7 8.25 9.25 8.5
8 8.5 9.75 9
9 8.75 10 9.25
10 9 10.25 9.5
11 9.25 10.75 9.75
12 9.5 11 10.25

Men
Shoe FootCircumference(inches) FootLength(inches) LegLength(inches)
Size
6 8.25 9.5 8.75
7 8.5 9.75 9
8 8.75 10 9.25
9 9.25 10.25 9.5
10 9.5 10.75 9.75
11 9.75 11 10
12 10 11.25 10.25
13 10.25 11.75 10.75
14 10.5 12 11

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