You've never knitted socks and you're wondering: "Is it easy to learn to knit socks?" The answer is: "Yes!" For those who have never really dared to knit socks before, or for those who just want to start a new project, this free guide is just the thing. Today's post is all about the classic needle game. If you follow these instructions when knitting socks, we will guide you to the finished sock in 8 detailed steps.

A few words in advance:

The material

These instructions refer to the classic knitting variant - double pointed needles. You need five needles in needle size 2.5, which have a point at the front and back. If you want, you can also use 2 stitch markers or two more auxiliary needles. This can be very useful with the heel.

So that you can enjoy your new socks for a long time, use a special sock yarn, for example our 4-ply Superwash sock yarn from Rico. It consists of 75% virgin wool and 25% polyamide. This makes them particularly robust and easy to care for. You can wash your socks at 40 degrees without hesitation. Since it was spun from four threads, this wool is relatively thin, but thanks to the high percentage of new wool, your feet will still stay nice and warm later on.

The size

The socks from the following instructions are knitted with a classic cap heel and with a ribbon toe . The information refers to my own size - 38/39. To make the instructions easier to understand for you in a different size, the deviating information is marked bold.

Here you can easily read the size table for sock knitting and adjust the stitches accordingly. Whether you want to knit baby socks, knit children's socks or knit sneaker socks for yourself, always use the appropriate size chart as a guide.

Let's go - step by step!

For my socks, I use two balls of 4-ply Superwash sock yarn and size 2.5 needles. In the Bobbel Blog you will find even more information that you can use to knit socks.

The cast-on

For size 38/39 you need 60 stitches. To do this, cast on 15 stitches on three needles. Cast on (15 + 1) stitches on the fourth needle, then knit the extra stitch together with the first stitch on the first needle. Now you have closed the stitches in the round. Now you start knitting the first round with the fifth free needle.

The cuff

First you knit the cuff of your sock. You can knit in the round in a rib pattern of your choice. There are different variants of a cuff. I worked this sock with a simple rib pattern, so knit 1, purl 1.

To do this, use the fifth needle to alternately knit 1 knit and 1 purl stitch until the first needle is knitted off. Now you take the free needle and knit the second needle in the chosen cuff pattern. Do the same with the third and fourth needle. The row of rounds is finished when you have knitted the last stitch of the fourth needle. Please don't forget to tighten the thread when making the transition between the needles. This is how you avoid gaps.

I follow the following rule of thumb for cuffs: you should knit as many cuff rounds as there are stitches on one needle. So you knit 15 rounds in the chosen rib pattern.If you want, you can also knit your cuff longer, some even knit the entire shaft up to the heel in a rib pattern. If you have shorter socks, you are welcome to choose a less wide cuff. There is no real rule.

The shaft

For our instructions, you knit the shaft in stockinette stitch. When knitting in rounds, this means that all stitches are knitted. Try to tighten the stitches evenly at the needle transitions, otherwise you will get ugly holes.

The height of the shaft is a matter of taste. Traditionally, you knit as many rounds as there are stitches on three needles. In our example sock you knit 45 rounds. For example, if you want to knit sneaker socks, you should of course choose a correspondingly shorter shaft.

If you want to make it a little more creative and individual, you can knit different sock patterns here.

The heel wall

When knitting socks, heels are a fear factor for many beginners. But if you follow the instructions step by step, heel knitting is not that difficult.

You start with the heel wall for the cap heel. To do this, put the stitches of the first needle (left hand) together with the stitches of the fourth needle (right hand). To do this, use the fourth needle to knit the stitches from the first needle on the right. So now you no longer have four, but three game pins in your hands.

In our case with 60 stitches, the whole thing looks like this:

• 1. Needle: no stitches
• 2. Needle: 15 stitches
• 3. Needle: 15 stitches
• 4. Needle: 30 stitches

You don't need the stitches on the second and third needle for the next steps. They are decommissioned. If you are afraid that the stitches will slip off the needles, you can pull your stitches on an auxiliary thread and knot the two ends of the thread together. So everything stays in place.

You are now only working with the 30 stitches on the fourth needle. You knit the heel wall in stockinette stitch over these 30 stitches. For our sock we knit 26 heel wall rows. In the right side you only knit right stitches. In the back rows, two right stitches are worked first. Then purl stitches follow up to the two stitches before the end of the row. The last two stitches are knit stitches again.

This creates a small area with ribs on the left and right edge of the heel wall. This will be very useful later when picking up stitches. It is important that you end with a back row.

The skullcap

Now comes the skullcap. To do this, you divide your stitches on the needle into three equal parts or use the stitch markers/auxiliary needles. The 30 stitches are divided as follows: 10 + 10 + 10.

If you have a stitch count that is not divisible by 3, the surplus stitches are assigned to the middle third. For example, with 28 stitches, the division looks like this: 9 + 10 + 9

In the first row of the cap, knit over the 1st and 2nd third. Knit the last stitch of the 2nd third together with the first stitch of the last third. Slip the stitch on the right, knit the next one on the right and pull the slipped stitch over it. The other stitches of the last third remain unworked.

// Turn your sock, slip the first stitch on the wrong side, purl, and purl all stitches up to one stitch before the end of the middle third. The last stitch of the middle part is purled together with the next stitch.Turn your knitted piece, slip the first stitch on the right side and knit the remaining stitches. Knit the last stitch of the middle part together with the next stitch of the last third. //

Repeat the whole thing from // to //, until only the stitches of the middle part are left on the needle . With 30 stitches this is 10. The heel is now complete. If that went too quickly for you, this video.

will help you

The gusset

Now your heel is done and you can continue with the gusset. Your needle currently has the 10 middle cap stitches. Now knit these stitches on the right, again distributing the stitches evenly on two needles. There are now 5 stitches on each needle.

Now you pick up stitches from the heel wall. You can find out how many stitches you have to pick up in total from the size table. For this sock you pick up stitches on the first needle 14 on the corresponding side of the heel wall. On the second needle you also pick up 14 stitches from the other side of the heel wall. To pick up the stitches, you can use the fifth needle or a crochet hook to poke the edge stitches of the heel wall and bring the thread from the back to the front. This will give you loops that are easier to pick up on the hook. This should give you a total of 19 stitches on both needles.

The decommissioned meshes now come back into play. You knit these two needles on the right.

You will notice that you now have a total of 68 stitches on double pointed needles. In order to restore the original number of stitches of 60, you now work the gusset decreases.

You knit in rounds again. In every 3rd round you work a decrease round on the needles of the gusset until the starting number of stitches is reached again. In our case this means that you have to work 5 rounds of decreases to reach 15 stitches per needle again.

The foot

Next comes the foot. As with the upper, you simply knit stockinette stitch in rounds until the foot length given in the table is reached. For size 38/39 you knit 20 cm.

The top

When knitting socks, the toe is just as varied as the heel. I've decided on a ribbon tip here. After the foot has reached the specified length, the decrease section for this lace begins.

With 15 stitches per needle, you first decrease 8 times every other round and then 5 times every round. You work a total of 13 decrease rounds and 2 stitches remain on each needle.

How do you lose weight properly?

• 1. Needle: Knit up to the last 3 stitches, knit 2 stitches together, knit 1 stitch
• 2. Needle: Knit 1, slipped decrease, knit to end
• 3. Needle: Knit up to the last 3 stitches, knit 2 stitches together, knit 1 stitch
• 4. Needle: Knit 1, slipped decrease, knit to end

When there are only 2 stitches left on each needle, you have finished the tip decrease. The sock is almost done! The top just needs to be closed. To do this, take a wool needle and cut off your working thread generously.

Now pull the thread threaded onto the needle through the total of 8 remaining stitches and pull tight. After pulling together, pull the needle into the inside of the sock and sew the thread there. Do the same with the starting thread.Sock number 1 is ready!

All good things come in twos! Start right away with the second pair of socks By the time you have your second or third pair at the latest, knitting socks will be quick and easy. Have fun knitting socks, in many patterns and colors. If you want, feel free to share your progress with us on our Facebook page.

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