Hand Knitted Socks

I have started knitting this season’s first pair of socks! I have got to the foot section of the first one, so it shouldn’t be too long before I have a pair fit to be worn!

I really love the super-cheerful colours in this yarn, they will be very happy socks! being someone who spends a lot of time outdoors I searched for years to find a decent pair of warm socks. Even buying so called ‘thermal’ socks I would still have frozen toes in the cold weather.

About ten years ago taught myself to knit ‘in the round’, and made my first pair of hand knitted socks- I finally had a warm pair of socks! Alpaca yarn seems to be the softest and warmest choice for socks (apparently the hair fibres are hollow, thus trapping air, resulting in a very effective form of insulation), but for slightly more hard wearing socks (that are still very cosy in the cold) sheep’s wool with a very small amount of polyester in the yarn does the job.

I enjoy knitting all sorts of things, but I think that the socks, gloves and hats that I have knitted over the past few have been the most rewarding projects, even though they only see the light of day during the coldest part of the year. Fingerless gloves or mittens are also great stash busting projects, ideal for using up any left over sock yarn!