Hand Knit Socks

Socks are usually taken for granted.  We hardly even notice when one goes missing - until we go to match it up.  That all changes when you put on your first pair of hand-knit socks. Through the process of knitting the socks, you plan the design, select the fiber and work the needles to give birth to a priceless creation known to so few - a pair of custom socks.

There are many formats for knitting socks, but I'm rather old-school and use double-point needles (DPN).  I use three to hold the stitches in a circle (okay, really it is a triangle) and a fourth to knit. 

You get to intimately know the anatomy of your socks - the cuff, heal-flap, gusset, sole, and toe.  If you are working a pattern design, you likely have it memorized and could knit it in your sleep. 

You have to decide the number of stitches to cast-on, how long to make the length of the sock and the preference of which cuff to use.  Do you wear your socks loose or tight?  Will you be hand-washing or (gasp) throw them in the machine? What color should the sock be knit in - this absolutely reflects the personality of the wearer! This means knowing the foot which will wear the sock.

Before you start the second sock, you are no longer willing nor able to take socks for granted any longer.  With each stitch, the respect you have for this once-lowly garment grows until you find that you can no longer wear anything else but hand-made socks.