Adventures in Sock Making

I have a confession to make: I have been knitting for at least eight years, and I have made a solitary sock in that time. And it's not even a bad looking sock. In my very humble (and probably a little bit biased) opinion, it's actually a pretty good looking, and fairly functional sock. But, like I said, it's a lone sock. I never got around to making its mate because I discovered how difficult it is to use double pointed needles. I want to love DPN's, I really do. They're useful and sort of an awesome concept; but whenever I attempt a circular project, big or small with DPN's, I feel like I have caught a five tentacled octopus and have to wrangle it in order to continue. They're always falling out while I'm trying to work or the one single needle I need to continue has gone adventuring to the bottom of the chair or couch. Maybe it's me, with my inability to wrangle the four or five needles at a time, or maybe we just weren't fated to be together. Whatever the reason, I needed to find an easier way to accomplish small diameter circular knitting, and that's where magic loop comes in.

Here is the aforementioned sock in action:

I've never actually blocked it, seeing as I didn't feel the need to purchase sock blockers before or after I made it, since I thought I had given up ever trying to make socks ever again.

Because I had sort of learned how to do magic loop in a previous project, I decided to give sock knitting a go around one more time. My boyfriend also had been hinting at wanting something warm and cozy to cover his toes, so I decided I could at least try to make them, and if it ended in disaster then I would finally know that I absolutely was never going to be a sock knitter and could simply say that when I got a request for socks.

Fortunately, when I cast on and started knitting with magic loop I fell in love. It was so simple to just use the two needles and the cable instead of the five tentacled octopus. I bought a brand new set of ChiaoGoo lace needles (a review of these particular needles is coming up!) in size 1 (2.25mm) and I can't wait to finish my sock. I'm on the heel right now, and I'm so happy with how it's turning out. Apparently I am a sock knitter after all, which means it's time to stock up on some gorgeous sock yarn! I haven't tried knitting two socks at a time yet, since I should learn to walk before I can run, but that hopefully I get the courage to try that out shortly! I'll post some project pictures down below; the pattern I'm following is My Knitted Heart Vanilla Socks, available here on Ravelry. Let me know about any tips or tricks that you might have for a brand new sock knitter in the comments! Happy knitting!