I haven’t been able to knit socks for a few months. The pregnancy swelling in hands and feet is REAL, and I’m not wasting my time on socks that I can’t wear now, or that I’ll never fit into because my feet have changed sizes. And getting gauge on those small needles with swollen hands is HARD.
I miss my sock knitting!
Yesterday I finished a new pair of socks. This pair is an xmas gift for my little brother (he is 32, so not that little). I hope he will like them.
@AIMR Do you wear socks straight on the skin or with a pair of normal socks under?
Im used to have this socks as an extra pair for warmth, but it hit me that thinner socks may be worn straight on the skin.
Those are wonderful! Love the heel and toe contrast.
I really don’t like wearing socks at all…I love knitting them, but give most of them away. I make thinner socks and advise people to wear them over other socks to prevent wear on the handknitting…but I think a lot of people wear them right over their skin.
Ooh, Im totally with you on not wearing socks! When Im at my home I walk barefoot.
And thanks for your kind words on my socks!
Slowly (but surely) knitting through my stash of sock yarns 
This pair is for my sis, and the yarn is a squishy hand painted superwash merino from the defunct Cherry Tree Hill Yarn.
All that is left to do is finish grafting the last sock, and I think I might have enough yarn to knit a second pair!!
Very pretty socks!
I washed a bunch of small handknits and there’s some sock mending waiting for me… I might end up re-knitting a toe since that’s probably easier. Possibly in a new colour since I can’t remember if I have leftovers or not.
Do you know of any good reinforcement for the bottom of the socks? Apparently that’s where I ”kill” mine first. I usually do a slip stitch heel flap for strength, but I’m not sure that would work (or be comfy) for the soles.
Not much to be done about that as far as reinforcing. It’s easier to make sure at the beginning that the yarn you are using is appropriate for socks.
There’s plenty of gorgeous, buttery soft “sock” yarn out there, but it’s probably better off in a shawl than a sock. A lot of indie dyers use the term sock to describe the weight of the yarn, no matter what the ply structure is, or if it is light fingering or heavy fingering weight.
For socks, you want something with a tight ply twist. Loosely spun fiber will wear and tear much faster than a high twist spin.
Also, your gauge could possibly be tighter. A firm gauge on socks (between 8-9 st per inch) creates a stronger fabric.
That’s good advice! I have both shawl-sock weight and sock-sock weight yarns in my stash.
I mostly use wool/polyamide blends but I could work on gauge and make sure whatever I use is tightly spun.
Good thing I actually enjoy mending 
I do a slip stitch heel most of the time as well…most of my friends wear clogs of some sort so there is not a lot of stress on the heels…I always save a bit of yarn for repairs, but in reality, most like a mended sock to look more scrappy and handmade…lol…good thing!
Well, since I have no other pressing projects I decided to make a bunch of orphan scrap socks with my little balls of leftover sock yarn. Still needs to be blocked out, but I’ll be saving that for when I have a pile of socks I’m sure. lol.
Not crazy about the color pooling on my current sock, but at least it’s making a funky swirl if it has to pool.
I actually like the swirl!
I have to admit I’ve never blocked a sock. Does it really make a big difference?
These arrived in the mail the other day. I’m going to start with the blue yarn first, they’re for my mum for Christmas. The purple yarn is for me, I want to do a cable pattern.
I’m going on a business trip this week and sock knitting is the perfect thing to do in a hotel room at night. It doesn’t take up a lot of space in my bag and you don’t have to refer to the pattern constantly. Just a relaxing knit on the bed while watching TV.
Beautiful! I have some of that yarn but used it for scarves…seeing your gorgeous blue sock makes me want to get that colorway for socks!
I do block socks but only if they are gifts just to make them look pretty for giving…once they get washed, it doesn’t seem to matter…lol…
It’s slightly darker than I expected it to be but I like it. It’s quite thin so I can imagine it’s perfect for intricate patterns. I like working with it (I’m glad about that since I bought so many colours!) .
Got through 4 orphan socks before getting sidetracked with some xmas present crafting. Managed to get rid of most of 3 small balls of yarn…now I just have even smaller balls to mix and match with 
Ooh, that’s a great idea! Who wants to make 2 of the same thing? Just use the same sort of yarn & sized needles & finish one sock, then wear mismatched. I like it!
Yeah, I feel like mismatched socks are fun lol. Also, most of these balls aren’t enough for a full pair. Though striping is helping to make them go farther.
Well i spent “good money” on purposely mismatched yet coordinating sock pairs recently so I definitely vote go for the gold here! Lol
I have to admit I usually just let the sock block on the intended foot… I might do a lazy block it by giving it a wash and laying it flat to dry. It all depends on how much I’ve dragged around the project while working on it. Washing it is often a good idea.
