wool socks.

I finally finished knitting my first pair of socks! I can't tell you how many times I started on a pair and never finished them and it was beginning to get very frustrating. There are sooooooo many patterns for socks out there, but to find one that actually makes sense? Ugh. It's been hard. I mean, most of them I could follow okay, but there were about a million instructions included with each pattern and frankly, I don't want to have to read through the whole dang thing every time I am knitting a sock. Finally I found a pattern that worked pretty well along with the use of some great YouTube tutorials. Now that I have the basic sock pattern down, I am using the instructions to make other sizes (by comparing the pattern I have with other patterns). I still need to figure out how to make a basic sock using sock yarn instead of worsted weight. But for now worsted weight is just fine. I like a good thick wool sock for winter. I also discovered my gauge is a bit tighter than it was a few years ago (that's a good thing for me! It was way too loose before!) So yeah, I could spend the next five paragraphs talking about my thrilling sock making experience, but I won't bore you. My goal is to learn how to make socks without the use of a pattern, but we'll see on that one. Here are my notes on Ravelry. (Sorry, I am so bad at uploading projects to that site!)

Edit: I'm going to include the tutorials (they are mostly videos) that helped me a lot. In case you are interested...

• Basic socks pattern (worsted weight, women's size 8.5-9).
  
• How to SSK (Slip Slip Knit).
• Joining a new ball of yarn (in case you run out or your yarn breaks).
• Make the heel.
  
• Turning the heel.
• Shape and graft toe (video) and (instructions, scroll down).