Beginner's sock

[snakeling]

I've got cotton yarn and needles and I'm ready to knit my first sock. Except that I'm kinda overwhelmed by the choice available, so could you recommend a good beginner's pattern?

I've only one circular needle, but on the other hand, I actually like double-pointed needles (actually I like them better :D).

Comments

[seryn]

Not sure about the yarn being right for these, but this was the first sock pattern that made sense to me:
http://media.wendyknits.net/knit/featherandfansock.pdf

[snakeling]

Oh, that's a nice pattern, thanks!

[seryn]

The only thing I recommend is keeping track of whether the yarn you use felts.... I loved my socks made to that pattern until they got washed. Mine turned from adult sock size to mittens for tiny hands size. (So I put a slit in the heel and picked up stitches to add a thumb.)

That's one really excellent thing about cotton yarn... no felting.

For me what really worked was buying sock yarn, and sock size needles and just assuming I was going to get that gauge the pattern said. Because when I did the swatch it looked all airy and was enormous. But once I got into the actual sock, I was pulling my stitches a lot tighter. So what I needed was a pattern that promised it was going to work if I just trusted it. That might not be what you need.

I really like wool socks. Everyone thinks wool is hot, but compared to my commercial socks (which have a shockingly high non-cotton percentage for "cotton socks") I find that my feet are less sweaty and my toes are not overly warm. If you're seeking good sock yarn, look for more than 2-plies, look for it being tightly twisted with lots of "bounce", and look for it knitting to the standard sock gauge of 8sts/inch (at least until you have more experience). There's a lot of fingering yarn out there that just won't hold up to being socks no matter what the label says.

Good luck!

ps. when I was starting, everyone told me I wanted to knit Monkey socks by Cookie A. If you're adventurous enough to try it; they are cute.

[snakeling]

Thanks for all the advice!

I've read somewhere that you just don't knit with the same tightness in the round, so ideally you should do the swatch in the round too.