Magic Loop Socks

Red Socks

Magic loop red socks

    These are the second pair of socks I ever knitted.

Red sox

The only changes I made were to the cuffs. I did 1*1 rib instead of 2*2 rib. You can see the 1*1 rib cuff in this picture.

   The yarn is knitpro, knitpicks that a friend sent me from the states. I love the little coloured bits in it.

Red Sox

  For a fuller post on socks see my first socks post.

Magic loop red socks

  I made these socks longer in the leg and they fit me much better. There a lot more comfy and so far my best pair. I do love the variegated yarns but I also love these solid coloured ones with the interesting flecks of colour.

(Click pictures to enlarge)

Midge mittens

Midge mittens

   These midge mittens are a great beginners in the round project, there is no left and right hand to bother with. 

Moms Christmas mittens

    These were my second in the round project and it was once the wrist ribbing was done and I'd moved on to what was meant to be the stocking stitch part I realised I was knitting wrong. Instead of stocking stitch I was getting purl stitches, it took me awhile and a friends advice to figure out I was knitting off the wrong needle. I think its an easy mistake to make using magic loop and not so much using dpn.

Midge mittens

  I knitted these for my moms Christmas present last year, I can't remember the yarn I used apart from that it was sock yarn. I think it was regia but could be wrong. I probably used 3mm needles using the magic loop method. I find the magic loop so much more easy than knitting with several double point needles. Its also less intimidating to beginners I think.


   As well as learning that I was knitting the wrong way around this was the first time I had to pick up stitches. I didn't practise picking up stitches I just went ahead and did it, its a bad habit of mine to just jump in. You can't really see in the pictures and I only have these 4 images but my results were not great but passable. I've since had plenty of practise picking up stitches doing socks.

Easy, no left, right hand mittens

 

     Over all I was happy with the mittens, they fitted well and looked great which is probably more to do with the yarn. There an easy beginners project for in the round knitting compared to socks and will give you a chance to learn to pick up a few stitches. Plus because there is no left hand, right hand mitten also makes them very easy, a big plus for me when I was looking for a easy pair of mittens to knit.

My first socks

My first socks knitted with magic loop.

My first socks

    Socks can be a daunting task for the beginner with a few new things to learn, heel stitch, short rows and Kitchener stitch. All pretty easy to do but still a little off putting. I think the hardest being Kitchener stitch, its looks harder than it really is but is very easy to get confused while knitting it. Have to pay attention, I think one video recommended getting a glass of wine, throw the dog out and take the phone off the hook. Maybe good advice the first few times, or always.

Me wearing my new socks

  I use magic loop to do all my knitting in the round, there are parts when doing the sock its very tricky but I much prefer it than going onto use 4 or 5 double point needles.
  The hard part was doing the gusset and it took me awhile and a lot of yellow half baby socks before I mastered it. Even watching the only video I could find it still took me about 4 baby socks to get it.

Zig zag sock yarn

  If your going to do socks with magic loop I strongly recommend Kelley Petkun sock class videos, online.  There a great help even if the gusset part was hard to follow. 


   These socks were knitted using zig zag sock yarn, its only 50% super wash new wool but at £3.50 its one of the cheaper but good sock yarns. I used 3mm knit picks / knit pro interchangeable needles. I need to buy some smaller needles but you can't buy them any smaller than 3mm as interchangeable. The length of cable you need for doing socks in magic loop is 80cm, it can be done using 60cm I think but would make it more tricky on certain parts.  A longer cable would be fine.

Heel stitches on my sock

Here you can see the heel stitches, they add a little thickness for strength and comfort to the heel.
 This part of the sock is hardest, with turns and pick ups for the gusset. The gusset is the triangle part near the ankle, think you can see if better in the upper picture.

heel stitches & gusset

You can see the heel stitches and gusset in this picture, click to enlarge.
   Once past the heel and gusset its plain sailing to the toe decreases and kitchener stitches. The toe decreases are pretty straight forward, just don't get turned around or they wont match.
  And last is the kitchener stitch, its easier than it looks but very easy for it to get messy and confuse you.


  I always do both socks, on separate needles at the same time(some folks can do them on the same needles). This way I can finish both socks roughly at the same time instead of having one sock laying around waiting for me to get around to knitting it a friend. Plus I think it helps keep everything looking identical.

My first knitted socks

The socks were knitted down towards the toe, some folks prefer to do toe up socks. I didn't use a pattern for these. To me a sock is a sock and in stocking stitch doesn't really need a pattern, but will need trying on towards the end. To get the size right I use a online sock calculator with a few tweaks of my own. 

knitted socks

I might come back to this post another day and edit it all, seems a mess to me and I've missed a lot out. Like the part were these aren't really my first socks. I knitted a couple of pairs of baby socks before I attempted to knit these for myself.