How to Knit Socks

Do you have some knitting experience and some left over yarn from previous projects? How about making a pair of socks for you or someone close to you? A pair of knitted socks make a perfect unique gift and are wonderful to wear around the house during the colder months of the year. It's a good idea to have foot measurements if the sock is for someone else.

You'll need to know a few basic knitting techniques: knitting, purling, casting on, and casting off. Before you start this how to knit socks tutorial, I recommend brushing up on these basic techniques.

First, choose your yarn. Take the thickness into account. If you choose a thick yarn, you will end up with more than a slipper and it may be difficult to wear shoes with them. This is fine for wearing around the house. Just consider yarn thickness before you begin. You don't want to tell a loved one that you made them a pair of socks only to have them unable to wear them because their shoes won't fit while wearing them!

Second, choose your needles. This particular sock pattern requires you to work with double pointed needles. Five needles are needed for this pattern because of the symmetrical structure. It uses four needles to hold the work as you knit and one needle with which you'll actually put together the sock.

Third, cast on the toe of the sock so you don't have to sew the end of it. With two needles, wrap a figure eight shape around them. The loops you are creating will later turn into stitches for the sock. For small socks, use eight loops and for bigger socks, use ten.

Fourth, add a third needle. Use it to knit the loops onto the first one. After fastening all of the loops on to the first needle, knit the loops on to the second needle. At the end, all of your stitches should be on the first and third needles. Its ok if they are loose because we will tighten them later on.

Fifth, using the third needle, follow the knit needle and make a pattern all the way until you get to the halfway point over the needle. Place a marker here to indicate the center-back point of the sock.

Sixth, add the fourth needle by continuing the knit one. Make a knit pattern until there is only one left and knit the final stitch.

Seventh, repeat the past steps with a casting on needle. For large socks, you'll need six stitches for each one. Smaller socks should have five. Keep doing this until you have completed the desired length of the sock. Keep knitting until the sock is about two inches from the back of the heal.

Eighth, we'll make the heal of the sock. To do this, knit short rows with two needles. By using knit and purl techniques, you can avoid large holes in the sock. Simply knit back and forth.

Ninth, finish the sock by returning the needles back to normal. Finish building the remainder of the sock by going to your five-needle stance - the area the goes around the ankle.

Finally, cast off. You'll want to ensure that the sock is comfortable and not too tight or loose. To do this, cast off loosely.

Voila! You now have the perfect winter holiday gift for a loved one!