(no subject)

[avendya]

Socks! Someone tell me about socks!

Or, rather, tell me how one gets started on making them. I am a beginning knitter, about two feet into an Irish Hiking Scarf. I was playing around with some size 3 needles, and really, really liked them. It seems like socks are the most common thing made on small needles, and I would rather like a nice warm, fuzzy pair of socks. (Emphasis on warm -- my goal would be socks that can be worn in the house, instead of shoes, by a person with the world's worst circulation.)

DPNs look slightly terrifying, but they are probably manageable, right? Anyone want to give me pattern recs? The nicest looking pattern I've found is the skew sock, but oh dear god complicated stitchwork. (At least to a beginner.) A Coraline sock looks less terrifying, but also less pretty.

So: should I avoid socks for the time being, and knit a couple other things that use increases/decreases (the Saroyan scarf comes to mind), or try to make socks anyway? And, if I should knit socks: pattern recs?

Comments

[luscious_purple]

Silver's Sock Class is a WONDERFUL tutorial for making basic socks on DPNs. Once you make a pair of basic socks, then you can go for something with more fancy stitching.

I used to be terrified of DPNs, but now I can manage them. Get the wood or bamboo DPNs. They will be less likely to slip out of your stitches than metal DPNs.

Enjoy!

[ambersweet]

Get the wood or bamboo DPNs. They will be less likely to slip out of your stitches than metal DPNs.

I cannot agree with this advice enough. Not only are dropped stitches a serious problem with metal needles, so is "I pulled this sock out of my purse and OMG HALF THE STITCHES ARE OFF THE NEEDLES AND NOW I MUST HAVE A SOBBING MELTDOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS VERY PUBLIC PLACE." It's not pretty. (If you become an avid user of DPNs, Knit Picks makes a couple of clever little tools designed to protect your needle tips and save your sanity. Leftover corks also work for this, if you're a DIY-type.)

[ironed_orchid]

Just to add a different perspective...

I love dpns, and for socks I always use metal ones, because I snap the tiny wooden ones too easily.

[ambersweet]

I've seen people complain of this very thing. :) Never done it myself, though. I believe there are some metal needles out there that are slightly textured so stitches are less likely to slip off? Blackthorns come to mind, though I've never had the pleasure of using them. For a baby knitter, though, I think the slipperiness of most metal needles and the horror of the dropped stitch (my socks on metal needles ended up in time out for two months or so....) probably would make potentially snapping a bamboo needle worth the risk. (Lantern Moon's DPN sets come with an extra needle, as well, and it's generally fairly easy to switch from five DPNs to four if the need arose.)

I do totally love how everyone's knitting experiences are a little different. ^^

[liseuse]

I keep wondering about trying the metal DPNs because whilst I've never snapped a wooden one, I do bend them quite frequently and then have to hold them very very carefully.