Turning the Heel : Fear of a First Sock

Those of you that know me well will probably know that I still consider myself a novice knitter. Whilst I've been spinning yarn for over 10 years, knitting is a fairly new hobby of mine as a whole. I've been knitting scarves and simple projects for a while, and recently finished my first garment for my 30th Birthday this year, Lauren Aston's Cropped Cable Jumper, which was an achievement in and of itself.

The Magic of Video & kindness of Knitters

Socks are something I've never felt confident or comfortable trying, the complication of turning the heel has always put me off. I've always wanted to knit myself a pair, I love a good thick cosy wool sock, and they've almost seemed the project that makes you a true knitter once you've cast on a pair. But I've still felt wary of trying them, worrying about failing, that is until I discovered the Crazy Sock Lady's Youtube channel. 

I honestly believe without the magic of Youtube I wouldn't have managed to finish my first pair of socks. There's something about watching the video that removed my fear of knitting socks that I would have felt from just reading a pattern by itself. 

I'm much more a visual learner and so watching videos for me is the easiest way for me to pick up new skills and techniques. It's one of the main reasons I always wanted to make sure I recreated my own How-To Video tutorials for spinning yarn. Reading from a book and trying to learn something completely new without seeing what you are supposed to be doing is hard. Extremely hard.

Measure Twice: Knit Once

Being typically Steph, even with fantastic instruction I still messed up my first sock. The first sock took a while to complete and I knitted way too tightly, so there's not a lot of stretch, especially around the heel. I also knitted the foot too small so it's more of a UK 7 than an size 8.

The second sock was started and finished within a week and went much better. I held the yarn looser in my hand and the finished sock has more stretch and is far more comfortable to pull on and wear. I also ran out of my contrast colour on the toe decrease so had to finish it off with the main colour, leading to a striped toe effect.

As one sock is slightly too small for me I plan on gifting the pair to my smaller sized sister. I'm just hoping the fit her!  

But I am definitely seeing more sock projects in the not too distant future.