Monday, April 12, 2010

Knitting socks

On Saturday, I presented - led?, gave? - my very first workshop on how to knit a sock. I pitched the idea to our local rec. programmer last fall.  April seemed very far away then. 

Like most things, it started small.  There were only 3 people signed up.  That's not a bad thing as I'd never done it before and I didn''t know how much attention each person would need.  The participants were required to have knitting basics but there's a lot of interpretation to that.  Luckily, we had the use of a room in our senior center which is just like being in a comfy living room and we felt right at home.


I created a little sample sock pattern which included all the elements of any sock.  As you can see it is small, too.  These are the ones I knit up...the red one I knit with the participants as we moved along.   The brown is only the heel part of a sock to illustrate a different way of knitting the flap and the short rows.


My pupils were awesome.  In the 2.5 hours, we were only able to get the sample sock made.  The time just whizzed by!  One commented that it would be nice just to sit there all afternoon and knit.  No one  wanted to be in a photo but I did get one with a sock in progress.  She had never knit on 4 needles before - isn't she doing great?  Their delight when the heel emerged from the short rows was wonderful!

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  And I have a request to do one on toe-up socks.  And knitting on two circs.  Oh, gosh, I've got some studyin' to do before the fall. 

Since there's a bit of yellow in these photos, I'm using this for my Mellow Yellow Monday entry, too.  For more mellow yellow, visit Drowsy Monkey here.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish you had been at my side when I started to knit socks.

Annie Jeffries said...

These are sooooo cute. Might there be a comparable crochet pattern?

Rudee said...

What an awesome sounding day. I hope by the time you meet again in the fall, they're wearing hand made socks.

Rachel Cotterill said...

I haven't tried socks. Really ought to give it a go... :) Your lesson sounds great!

Ginny Hartzler said...

You must be a very good teacher if no one wanted to leave! What a cool thing to do! I do love the oictures, and there's a good shot of ywllow in them. I didn't even know you could knit on four needles!

Kim, USA said...

This is fabulous!! Love those tiny weeny socks and they are colorful too. Happy Monday!

MYM-An Angel
MacroMonday-The Bug

Paws on the Run said...

Great idea to use tiny socks!!!

Gill - That British Woman said...

I am so glad it went well. Wish I could knit!!

We have split rail fence and that's how Molly got out.

Gill in Southern Ontario

Rose said...

How nice of you to share your talent! What a great idea, starting with a baby sock! Much less daunting and so cute.

Anonymous said...

What fun. My Mom and my sister make socks all the time. I've made mittens before but never a sock. I guess I better get a lesson pretty soon. I prefer to crochet though. I don't like making two of anything in a row, and since most people including myself have two feet . . .

Jeannette StG said...

Good for you! It's nice with teaching when you can start small!

aspiritofsimplicity said...

What a lovely way to spend a few hours. I keep meaning to take a knitting class just to brush up. I really want to learn to knit with 4 needles so I can make a pair of fingerless gloves.

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