The trouble with socks: Part 4

In my last sock post, I left you with a heel, well now, drum roll please, I have a sock! One whole sock! Let me tell you all about it.

My first sock!

After knitting the foot, you get to the toes, so far, so straightforward. But there was a bit of a leap of faith involved; in the book no row tension is listed, just the stitch tension (which, you may remember, I was ignoring and just using the instructions for the stitch count for my tension). The book said that the toe adds 2.25 inches to the length of the foot. Would this be right for my knitting? My feet are apparently slightly shorter than the book suggests for my shoe size, so I targeted making the foot before the toe shaping the length of my smaller foot, minus 2.25 inches (8.25 inches, or 50 rows, more numbers for the post-it note!).

When I was nearly at the right length I measured my knitting every couple of rows - I didn't want to make the foot too long. Why does knitting two rows make no difference when knitting towards a target?! A watched pot never cooks, but eventually the foot was the right length. At this point I decided that the sock looked sock-like enough for me to try it on. It fits! I gave an involuntary delighted whoop, which did result in a confused look from my husband. Once I'd explained, he declared my excitement to be cute. 2.25 inches for toes seems about right. In the moment I tried the sock on, I suddenly got why people knit socks. The sock is so cosy, and fits perfectly. I have a feeling these may not be my last hand-knitted socks (so much so that I might already have purchased more sock yarn...).

I had to reinstate my stitch markers for the toe shaping as it referred again to needles 1-3, but the toe shaping was easy; I've shaped plenty of mittens and other bits and bobs using the same approach. I even enjoyed the Kitchener stitching of the toe, not always my favourite task (I still have to look it up every time I do it), as finally I have a sock. And it only weighs 45 g, which means I have enough to make two, even after winding off the excess so they match.

Rather than put the sock to one side and allow second sock syndrome to set in, I cast on my second sock immediately. I will not be beaten!