Sock knitting workshops

We’ve had some requests to run workshops on knitting socks on two circular needles. This technique is a bit quicker than using double pointed needles, and once you get the hang of it is quite easy to do. Hand made socks are infinitely nicer to wear than machine made ones, and also make excellent gifts.

The workshops will be held during the Knit Gibraltar sessions on Tuesdays, between 12 noon and 1.30 pm. They will commence Tuesday 26th March, which is the Tuesday before Easter. We should be able to get our socks done in 4 sessions, provided everyone does the necessary knitting between times! We will knit our socks two at a time, which keeps them exactly the same and also avoids “second sock syndrome”. You should be a reasonably confident knitter to do this but you certainly don’t need to be an expert.

Session one will cover the mechanics of knitting on two circular needles, negative ease, getting our tensions and calculating stitches and rows for our size, the long tail cast on and the jogless join.

Session two will assume you’ve finished knitting the legs and move on to dividing for the heel flaps.

Session three will cover constructing the heel cups using short rows, and then working the gussets.

Session four will assume you’ve finished knitting the feet and form the toes. Kitchener stitch will close the ends to avoid a seam.

So please note that you will have a fair amount of knitting at home to do between sessions one and two, and again between three and four. You might want to stock up on some DVDs.

In order to participate you will need two circular needles, both of which need to be of 2.5mm diameter, and either 60 or 80cm long. We recommend Addi steel needles which have the necessary slickness and the smooth joins that make knitting a pleasure rather than a pain. You will also need 2 x 50g of sock wool, arranged as centre pull balls, not hanks. Given that these things are hard to come by in Gibraltar, particularly if everyone descends on Flowers at once, we can provide the necessary needles and yarn for about £25 (probably a bit less) provided we can get an order in by the middle of next week. So if you would like me to do this for you please let us know by next Tuesday, 5 March. In your email please let us know the sort of colour yarn you would like (if you have a preference.) We recommend a variegated yarn for your first socks as it will cover up the odd little error, but if you would prefer a plain yarn then tell us.

If at the end you decide sock knitting isn’t for you, then the needles are easily sellable on eBay. But most knitters find they enjoy making socks.

You will also need to bring along three measurements for your socks - foot length, foot diameter at the widest point, and leg diameter about 5 cm/ 2 inches above the ankle. For your first pair, please don’t plan on making socks for the man in your life - male feet are much bigger than female ones and the sheer slog of all that knitting will be very dispiriting.