Fun
The Wandering Socks Knitalong Is Here!
Game on, friends!
Today we embark on a knitalong that promises to take us all over the place—the pool, the park, the back yard, Singapore, you name it. While knitting socks along the way.
The concept: an endless parade of socks from Field Guide No. 11: Wanderlust. Socks will be stowing away on all our travels this summer, near and far and even just staying on the porch trying not to melt. The idea is to illustrate the extreme portability of socks as a knitting project. Fanny packs are back in style—don’t think we haven’t noticed that. Any fanny pack worthy of its pleather can hold a skein of sock yarn, a set of needles, and a copy of Field Guide No. 11.
You will feel: light as a feather, clever as a spider, and smug as heck at how far ahead you are getting on that holiday gift list, as you crank out pair after pair of everybody’s favorite gift: handknit socks.
WE TRIED TO FIT ALL OF ANN’S RECENT SOCK PRODUCTION INTO A SINGLE SHOt. she is unstoppable.
Permission to take it easy: granted. Have you ever eavesdropped on a bunch of sock knitters talking about all the ways of making a sock? Just the heel options could shut down all brain function in a sock newbie. Eye of partridge? Gusset? Afterthought?—none of that for us!
With this knitalong, you will be freed of all that complexity. In Field Guide No. 11, Wendy Bernard gives us two supremely simple sock patterns: one that starts at the cuff and knits down, and one that starts at the toe and goes up.
The heel is the same heel, every time. The cuff options are also simple: there are just three (and we don’t mind saying, they are the best three cuffs). Get this: you can knit plain stockinette socks, and nothing else, all summer long. You’ll never be bored, because sock yarns—especially the sublime ones we’ve laid in for Field Guide No. 11—are endlessly entertaining in their own right.
Looking for more variety, and manageable challenges? Wendy has cooked up 13 stitch patterns that you can swap into either the cuff-down or the toe-up pattern. You can knit socks with an all-over texture pattern, or a panel of pattern down the center, guided every step of the way by Wendy’s experience and clear instructions.
when a “plain stockinette” sock is not that plain, thanks to an amazing yarn. ThiS is kay’s first-ever adult sock, by the way. It’s in neighborhood fiber company’s studio sock, shade: alice Gadzinsky.
You will have: a veritable hop-on, hop-off tour bus full of knitters to keep you company, in the Lounge, on Instagram, on Ravelry, pretty much everywhere you go.
There will be: weekly prize awards on Fridays, starting on June 28 and continuing through August 30. Really great prizes! Possibly sock-related prizes!
The Rules
• Begin, continue, or finish any one of the socks in Field Guide No. 11.
• Snap a picture of your sock or sock-in-progress in situ and post it on Instagram under the hashtag #mdkwanderingsocks, or in the Lounge here. Have fun with it! Exotic backgrounds encouraged, but not required.
• Does the sock have to be made with one of the ultra-special sock yarns we’ve got in the Shop? No. (But we will admit to being very partial to those yarns. We put our heart and soul into picking them.)
• Because we know we’ll get this question: YES, images of socks with sandals are allowed. Geez, who do you think we are? We like a Chaco-sock combo as much as the next glamorous knitter.
The Prizes
Every week our Chief Justice of the Supreme Sock, Cristina Shiffman, will post the winning photo in the Lounge and on Instagram. Prizes will include sock yarns and other delicacies, which will be shipped to the recipient at any address in the United States or Canada.
The goal here is mutual support and momentum sharing. We knit more when we see other people knitting. It’s contagious! We will keep our knitting going through the summer, and have socks to show for it. Now’s the time to build that sock drawer you’ve been dreaming of.
We have a fresh, new topic over in The Lounge: Summer of Wandering Socks KAL. Share your strategies, lists, accomplishments, and photos. We will Like every single one of them, and you may win a prize.
The Hashtag
#MDKWanderingSocks on Instagram.
But Wait—There’s a Bonus Hashtag!
To cheer on the blushing sock novices out there, we’d love to see all the first socks people make. Use the hashtag #MDKmyfirstsock, or just loudly proclaim THIS IS MY FIRST SOCK over in the Lounge. At the end of the knitalong, three of those photos will win a First Sock Prize, to be announced on August 30 with the last weekly prize winner.
Start and End Dates
The knitalong will begin on June 24, and the last prize will be awarded on August 30, so pictures must be posted during that time window.
Feel free to order up your copy of Field Guide No. 11 and perhaps a skein or two of one of our exciting new sock yarns. (Here’s our handy one-page pop-up shop for all things Field Guide. No. 11.)
Your purchases support MDK’s content, which is free to all and served up hot every single day of the year, and allow us to keep doing this thing that we love so much. For all of your support—of all kinds—we’re truly grateful.
IT’S SOCK TIME, Y’ALL!
Here we go, this will be my first ever sockThank you for this kickstarting KAL, so looking forward to the adventure
What I really want to know is what yarn has been used for the above socks that are pictured. I have bought so many sock yarns and been disappointed by how they knit up. It would help me pick out my yarn. After all, it looks like Ann will get them all done soon! She is unstoppable!
Hi Becky! It’s definitely the case that variegated yarns have an element of surprise. We’ll show socks as we make them, and you can see more at the Instagram hashtag #mdkwanderingsocks.
In the photo above with the Field Guide, from left:
Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio Sock in Banksy.
Barnyard Knits Sock/Fingering in Amethyst.
Barnyard Knits Sock/Fingering in Lemongrass Tea.
Lichen and Lace 80/20 Sock in Teal Tide.
Lichen and Lace 80/20 Sock in Citron.
Barnyard Knits Sock/Fingering in Canyon.
You are the BEST! Thanks so much.
I finished winding my yarn a little while ago. Neighborhood Fiber Co. Fingering yarn in the color “Swoon”. Very pretty!
My question is about size. The circumference of my (larger) foot brings me to an extra large — 10″ (I guess because of a bunion). However, my foot length brings me to between medium and large — 9.5″.What to do?
The first sock pattern I ever knitted recommended knitting the foot to 2 inches less than the length of your foot which has always given me a comfy foot without too much thinking. The thing to remember about socks is that you only need to agonize over the heel area and the toe area. You can knit the leg any length you’d like and the foot any length that fits. No knitting police, not even sock-knitting police! I have a sock OTN that I have to finish but then I’ll be jumping into the Wandering Socks KAL.
Sorry, foot Length brings me to between small and medium.
Hi Diane,
I’d cast on for XL, and then knit the length for the foot to M or L (I’d go with M because of stretch).
The cast on gives you the circumference you need. You can then always knit them to any length.
This is the reasoning I’m going to use for socks for my long-footed children. One size for cast-on and then just knit to the length I want.
It would aid precision, I think, to go with the toe-up version so that you can try it on as you go and get the perfect length, but I like cuff-down so much for the mindlessness at the start…
Thank you Kay. I will follow your recommendations using two circulars, cuff down.
Just a thought, I remember reading in Cat’s book that the socks (knit cuff down) may be tried on as you go. I think using the two circulars makes that doable.
Honestly. Knitting socks is easier than trying to figure out how to navigate this site. How do you join the group? How do you post?
Getting ready to start my first pair of socks on Monday! I know it’s really about gauge but for the needle size fit says size 2 or 2.5mm. But my size 1.5 needles are 2.5mm and my size 2 needles are 2.75mm. Do you recommend going with the metric size?
There is no formal joining of the knitalong. Knitters participate by posting a photo either to Instagram using the hashtag #MDKwanderingsocks, or to the Wandering Socks Knitalong topic in the Lounge. (Access the Lounge via the navigation button up top.) For the latter, you will need to have an account with Mason-Dixon Knitting, which is simple to set up. Let us know if you run into trouble, but it’s pretty straightforward.
Here’s the link to the topic in the Lounge: https://forums.masondixonknitting.com/t/summer-of-wandering-socks-kal/3110/17
e knitted socks since the summer my Mom died. Maybe this is the time to jump back in.
I am struck by your heartfelt words, and I know it’ll all work out
Quick question….. can the patterns be altered to accommodate a heel flap construction? I find the short row/afterthought heel to be too small for my high arch 🙁
Hi Jennifer, I’m not the world’s expert on socks (understatement alert!) but my understanding is that when you arrive at the heel, you can do any heel you like by just swapping in your favored technique for the one we use.
The marvel of socks is that once you understand their architecture, you can play with the parts nearly without limit. We chose a streamlined approach so that new sock knitters would get the architecture into their heads and hands in an easy way, both from the cuff down and the toe up, and then be able to pick and choose variations if they wish.
Does the Field Guide also include details for making baby socks, children’s socks?
No baby socks in the Field Guide. Baby feet are a special case (due to their adorableness and rounded shapes) and there are loads of patterns out there for them, including many free ones.
The Field Guide No. 11 patterns are sized S, M, L, and XL, with circumferences from 7-10 inches and foot lengths from 9 to 11 1/2 inches. They are gauged at 8 stitches to the inch and 12 rounds to the inch, so altering circumference in increments of 1 inch, or length in any increment you wish, is straightforward.
The chart on page 38 is helpful to those who want to knit different sizes from those given. As mentioned above, my long-footed (adult) children require slight modification to the length of the XL.
Getting ready to start my first pair of socks on Monday! I know it’s really about gauge but for the needle size fit says size 2 or 2.5mm. But my size 1.5 needles are 2.5mm and my size 2 needles are 2.75mm. Do you recommend going with the metric size?
As I understand it, the metric sizes that correspond to US Size 2 vary depending on manufacturer. For a point of reference, I’m a loose knitter so I went down to US Size 1.
My Susan Bates Knit Chek needle sizer says that US Size 1 is 2 1/4 mm and US Size 2 is 2 3/4 mm. Unless you are a super tight knitter I’d go with your US 1.5 (which I didn’t even know was a size!) or 2.5 mm needles.
Thank you!! I’ll be getting started soon!
Okokok…..I see all the excitement about socks!! It’s everywhere! It spilleth over into my lap and I must make a pair. I have some sock yarn already, but it’s sort of (yawn)(what was I thinking?). To encourage myself and calm my trepidation, I’m going to order some new yarn. ( Woohooo.thats the best part!). Yarn should be here within the week, and away we go! I’m counting on you folks to keep me going…. I Iove all your pictures!!
Babs the Reluctant but Willing To Give Socks A Go…..☺