Vintage Knitspot – School Sock

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I just finished socks for my husband Matt and they turned out lovely. They were a very belated 1st wedding anniversary gift (we were married Dec 31) that he received Easter morning. I knit them in our wedding colors and embroidered 1st on one of the legs.

Matt adores the knit items I’ve created for him. Why I don’t cover this man in more handknits is beyond me. He’s my biggest fan.

The socks took me FOREVER because during the first 4 months of my pregnancy, it made me nauseous to knit. It was like being out to sea with no land in sight! Awful. Thankfully my knitting mojo is back in full swing. Since I’m on a roll, I ought to cast on another pair. Right?

Matt has very thin, narrow feet. I’ve knit him socks before, but they just aren’t a perfect fit. They’re wearable, but I know I could do better. I knit the anniversary socks at a finer gauge and made the pattern up. They turned out great, but not ideal.

Just the other day, I remembered I took Anne’s Designing Off The Cuff class at Sock Camp a couple years ago. I went and dug out my notes and what a brilliant class that was. If only I put those techniques to use! That’s what Anne’s probably saying out loud as she reads this.

In the class we learned that successfully fitting socks really isn’t a mystery of the universe. It’s just a little math. I looked at her in disbelief, but she said, “don’t worry. I’ve written a pattern with a worksheet and all you do is take some measurements, fill in the blanks, and follow the right size all the way through.” Then she passed out The Sock Pattern to End All Sock Patterns. Why in the world did I never put this into practice? A class I paid good money for? What a waste. Wow, I sound like my mother.

Anywho, the pattern is brilliant and super easy to do. It even gives you creative freedom, if you choose, because you can plug a lot of knit and purl stitch patterns into her recipe and design your own sock.

Last night, I took measurements of Matt’s foot, knit swatches (yeah, that’s right. I do that too now.), and plugged all my info into the pattern. Piece of cake. Did I mention this pattern was brilliant? This time around, I didn’t feel like designing my own sock. I really wanted to take all this info I gathered and apply it to another knitspot sock pattern.

Stash diving I went…

I found some gems that Matt would love. I swatched a few and then went to the knitspot archives. Love my job!

Did you know Anne has written over 50 sock patterns? Incredible! Here are my contenders for the yarns above…

Spectator Sock

Luxor

Tottering Cables – David’s fave. Very stretchy sock for an all-over-cable pattern.

So Square Sock

It was hard to narrow my options down to just these! At least 30 knitspot socks are unisex designs, because Anne mostly knits socks for David. I called her about my discoveries and you know what she said,”you should blog about it.” I asked her a few questions about the designs before we hung up.

Anne said she essentially knits men’s socks that a woman would wear. Almost all her sock patterns are multi-sized. In SPEASP, there are 17 sizes! Anne said it’s a perfect pattern to knit if you live with someone who has a freakishly big or small foot. Also, there’s different sizes every four stitches, so you can really hone in on the perfect fit. From the cuff to the toe. Anne said people tell her all the time it’s the best-fitting sock they’ve made because of the heel area. The pattern has you knit a stockinette section after the leg and before the heel. Even if you have thick ankles, the sock will look great! Anne also swears this method makes your socks stay on your feet better.

I love all my choices, but at the last minute I found School Sock.

The pattern description says, top-down sock in four sizes features a knit/purl motif which extends down the leg and over the top of the foot, creating a fabric which resembles a “school plaid”. This was it! Matt & I both went to Catholic schools and he would find this very amusing. But I thought I would take the “school” theme a bit further. He is a die hard Michigan State University fan and years ago I bought Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the MSU colorway.

Last Fall, Matt took me to my first Michigan State University  football game and I could see what all the hype was about.

The game was a blast! After, I secretly bought patches from the souvenir shop for a future project. Isn’t this combo perfect?!

I’m off to knit MSU fan socks for Matt. I’ll let you know how my research/measurements/planning worked out along the way. Oh! How about a contest? Leave a comment about a sock knitting escapade (could be your’s or someone else’s) by 9 pm EST April 22 and I will give one lucky winner TWO sock patterns of their choice!

127 thoughts on “Vintage Knitspot – School Sock

  1. Not sure I have any sock knitting ‘escapades’, unless you count knitting socks after Thanksgiving dinner with my family. They are firmly in the why-don’t-you-just-buy-socks-at-the-store camp, so there were some…interesting discussions about what I was doing and why on Earth I was doing it.

  2. Spartan socks?!? Lol. A true fan. We bleed ND blue and gold, but please don’t hold that against me. I don’t have a sock story but, have a game day visual. I live on a cul-de-sac with 11 houses. On Saturday’s in the fall, all the team flags come out and you would think we are having a parade. Afterward the game we all come out with drinks in hand and talk game trash for the next weekend. I love my neighborhood.

  3. I’ve been knitting for years but only recently(about 2 years ago) started knitting socks. My sister-in-law, a brand new knitter, wanted me to teach her even though we live 4 hours apart. I had about half a day to take her through the whole process using a very vanilla sock pattern. The heel & gusset tripped her up but didn’t stop her. She just kept casting on more socks & knitting to the heel & stopping there until she had 6 pair started. A knitting class took her through the rest of the process & she is now finishing up all the socks she started. Sock knitting is very,very addictive!

  4. My mother promised my father I would make him a pair of socks for Christmas. She made this comment about two weeks before the holiday not comprehending how long socks can take to make, the other projects racing against the clock to be given as gifts or the fact that I’d never made socks for a man. So I had my father measure his feet, picked out some worsted weight yarn, found a generic sock pattern and cast on. Along the way a knitter shared that the trick to men’s socks was to add an extra inch towards the toe. So I did this and come Christmas morning the socks were a hit but one inch too long. I ripped back each sock two inches and reknit the toe decreases and voila, a perfect fit.

  5. How about a BOOK featuring those yummy patterns plus Ann’s gems of knowledge?!! I bet it would sell like hot cakes!

  6. I was knitting a pair of socks for my husband (size 13) and not once but twice one of my dogs got ahold of my bamboo dpns and chewed them to bits–along with the yarn that was on the needles. I now only knit with metal dpns for socks.

  7. You may be my salvation!! I’ve knit socks twice for my husband and they’ve both been disasters. I would so much love to knit him a pair that he loves to wear. Last year he wore a pair that I knit. They were so itchy he left the house wearing them then changed them at work!! I love all the pictures you’ve posted!

  8. I *need* some manly sock patterns! I haven’t knit socks for the hubby in years. He always had me knit big heavy wool socks which he loved but know he says he doesn’t need any wool socks. I think he is thinking about
    the big heavy ones, and doesn’t realize the lovely light weight wool socks I could knit him!

  9. I have watched a Spartan game from that very vantage point, when we played against O J Simpson (now I’m dating myself). DH was in graduate school, and I had faculty/staff tickets. Thanks for the memories!

  10. Anne is a wizard with the socks and has great patterns for men! I have knitted 3 pairs of socks for my husband and he loves them. One special pair is for when we go to Appalachian State Univ football games, he calls them his “App” socks. I would love a few more manly patterns and maybe one for me to add to my collection. Good luck on the MSU socks.

  11. My m-i-l asked me to knit her best friend a pair of socks for Christmas. Her bff has a size 10.5 foot! I found a chart that told me how many centimeters the foot should be, and it worked out really well. I received a very sweet thank you note from the recipient. She was thrilled to have a pair of socks that really fit her!

  12. Love all the socks but have not attempted any yet myself. But I had to let you know it’s a shame you had to buy those hideous green and white patches and couldn’t find some gorgeous maize and blue ones! Go blue! (Just kidding!) (Not about the Go Blue part, though! I love them so much that I even had my stem cell transplant done at the U of M Hospital! Now that’s loyalty, eh? Not an alum, just a fan.)

  13. After successfully finishing one pair of socks, I had no plans to knit anymore socks until I saw self-striping watermelon yarn, which I had to have. Cast on sock, got down to the heel, and there it sat for a year. On a road trip, with rookie driver Daughter driving, on bumpy roads and with size one needles, I turned the heel, picked up gusset stitches and gave driving instruction all at the same time. I no longer fear heels and picking up stitches – if I could achieve a sock under those circumstances, I could do anything! Since then have knitted two more pair, have a third pair on the needles, and more sock yarn waiting. Now I never want to wear anything but handknit socks!

  14. I have a good friend who used to knit and then asked me to re-teach her how to knit. Of course, the first thing she wanted to knit was a pair of socks! She persevered and next thing I knew, she had two pair of socks on needles at the same time. She just jumped into it whole hog and loved it. I believe she also has some of that green and while sock yarn to make socks for her husband.

  15. When I was first making socks I wanted to make a pair for my nephew. He had huge feet and I didn’t figure that into the yardage and didn’t buy enough yarn and couldn’t locate another skein in the same colorway. Of course I didn’t figure it out until I was to the toe of the second sock….

  16. For years I wanted to learn to knit socks. I bought patterns, books, and too much yarn to mention here. All just sat on a shelf. I finally took a class at my LYS. This was my first experience with DPNs, so I had lots to learn. I worked very hard to learn the process. Finally on the day I finished the first sock, I was in class as usual. For some reason tears started to flow down my cheeks. I was overwhelmed that I had finally learned to do something I’d wanted to do for years. I still wear my first pair of socks.

  17. Oh MAN! When is that Waffle Cream sock pattern going to be available to us losers who didn’t sign up for Anne’s club? I’m kicking myself. I knit a pair of socks for a friend of a friend who was in intensive care waiting for a lung transplant. Her feet were always cold and the wool socks did the trick. This was about 3 weeks before Christmas and everyone in her family loved the socks so much that they all wanted me to knit ‘2 or 3’ pair to give as gifts. In 3 weeks! Needless to say none of them knit. I had to be very polite and come up with a nice way to say ‘are you nuts’? By the way, the girl got her lung transplant at the last minute and today is in great shape.

  18. Love the pattern you chose! I’m jealous of all these ladies whose husbands actually want knit socks. I’m wearing him down slowly though…

  19. I have my first pair of socks on the needles now, Anne’s Movie Night Socks. Can’t believe how great they are for knitting when I’m sitting in the car waiting on my DD!

  20. When it comes to socks, The Master is 100% Anne. I’ve always got socks on the needles and the patterns are always Knitspot. I took a class a couple of years ago, and walked out of the class not knowing how to make socks. I picked up Anne’s, The Sock to End All Sock patterns and I’m a crazy knitting sock machine. That pattern is the best to learn how to make socks. It’s like Anne is sitting right next to you helping you along. Love, love, love sock knitting.

  21. My husband and son are very accepting of the fact that I mostly knit socks for myself, although my son (10 y.o.) looks forward to the new pair I knit him every year. Since he’s still growing, he gets one new pair a year and can usually wear the previous year’s as well.

    before I started knitting socks, I spent probably a year reading about it!

  22. My first pair of socks for my husband was one of my very first pair of socks (and one of my first knitting projects altogether). So I knew nothing about gauge, or the right yarn for the right project. I figured since he has such big feet, I would use a worsted weight yarn and larger needles. They came out big and soft, and my husband LOVES them, but they totally have not worn well. I knit him some nice dress socks afterward, which he also likes, but evidently nothing compares to those huge, worn, floppy slipper-like socks. I’m not sure I’ll ever get him to part with them!

  23. I’m not sure any of my sock adventures would be considered an escapade. But I certainly have learned new things with each pair I’ve knit. The pattern I had the most trouble with was Nautilus Socks. It’s a great pattern, but just isn’t the right size for my foot. I knit an entire sock 3 times with 3 different needles and still couldn’t get a good fit. I tried different yarns too. I finally just finished the pair and moved on. They look lovely in my sock drawer. Ha ha. Thanks for the great giveaway. I love Anne’s patterns.

  24. I just love Anne’s sock patterns, but have to admit that all the ones you have shown here I haven’t even noticed before. My current favourite is the Roger sock pattern. I won’t let my husband sort the washing out now – one day he thought he was being super helpful and emptied the washbasket into the washing machine. When I emptied it out after the wash was done, imagine the look on my face when I pulled out a pair of pixie sized throroughly felted alpaca socks!!!!

  25. My father turned 70 on July 7, 2007, so I decided to celebrate I should knit him 7 pairs of socks. I decided this at the beginning of May and I’m not the world’s fastest knitter, so for the next 2 months it was all socks, all the time. I finished the last sock at his birthday party.

  26. I’ve been gradually coming to the realization and especially with the latest pair of socks that I’ve knitted – I am a loose knitter! I need to drop at least one needle size for the next pair I make. I love my knitted socks – but they are a bit droopy…

  27. I remember Patternworks had declared 1996 as the Year of the Sock. I decided to see what all the fuss was about, so I ordered some yarn and got a free pattern. I made the first sock just fine, but apparently used a different needle size on the second sock because it was WAY off.

    Not put off by that encounter, I moved on to other socks. I’ve been knitting socks ever since, but that first pair is still two-sized. Maybe this will be the year I actually rip them out and make them match. 🙂

  28. In preparation for Sock Summit 2011 I decided to knit one of each sock out of all the yarn I bought at Sock Summit 2009 so I knew what to re-visit. Therefore, I have about 9 single socks to knit to have complete pairs. I am considering just wearing the mismatched ones until I get through the backlog.

  29. I have large feet for a woman and set about to make myself socks. Really funky self striping socks. At first I tried basic everyday stockinet socks, but that never got beyond a few inches in several months. One day after a pair of lace arm warmers flew off my needles, I had a epiphany. Socks would go faster if they were less boring. I have cast on two socks to be two different pairs in two different lace patterns, and have made it halfway through the toe half of each sock in a few weeks. ( I have limited knitting time) I am now loving knitting socks.

  30. I wish my husband could/would wear knit items. Living in Texas and having a person internal combustion engine… no chance I could get him to wear knit wear. But I do!!!

  31. I love Anne’s sock patterns. Tesserae is my current favorite. My sister is a woman who has everything and needs nothing, but she always, always appreciates a pair of my handknit socks. Next up, Waffle Creams for everyone!

  32. My husband does not want fingering weight hand knit socks….he lists several reasons, which change each time I ask him! What he DOES love, however, are worsted weight wool socks that he wears OVER his store-bought socks inside his hunting boots. He will faithfully hand wash each pair himself after coming home from a hunting trip!

  33. I took Anne’s designing off the cuff class at Sock Summit! It was great, especially the segment on swatching (I’ve been working on her to do a video, so I’ll get in another lick). I’d love to win the patterns–thanks for this contest.

    P.S. Is MSU Michigan State. I’m a Husker and just beginning to learn about a new set of teams!

  34. You should really try Gridiron. That is my favorite of Anne’s patterns for socks. I’ve made several for my husband. It is just entertaining enough to keep you interested but mindless enough to not have to pay total attention.

  35. A few years ago a friend and i went to new york- it was my first trip. We hit something like 15 yarn stores in 6 days. At one little shop the woman their kept saying “you don’t knit sweater?” we were like no not really. Finally she said “well what do you knit” like sweater are the only thing knit! When we said socks I though she would fall over “well thats like knitting half a sweater! Why not just knit a sweater!” She never did understand we wanted to knit SOCKS! Not a sweater! Poor thing.

  36. That’s a great story. I’ve tried thrice to knit socks using a particular skein of Cascade Heritage Sock; it’s a lovely color, and I guess the skein’s durability has been tested adequately because I’ve frogged as much as half a sock and reknit. In each case, once I got going on a pattern, I realized it had a feature I found tedious (lots of psso, e.g.). I’d love to try one of Anne’s elegantly understated patterns.

  37. My first pair of socks were ENORMOUS and practically fell off my feet when I walked in them. However, that didn’t stop me from planning to make five pairs of socks for Christmas…in October! I finished both socks for my son in time (the yarn had an interesting design when knit up, but probably looked better on smaller feet), but the other four received “a sock and a promise” on Christmas. And then I had to take the four single socks back so I could make a matching sock! I have since learned to a) record details, such as number of rows knit, so I can make the second sock match (because counting all those rows…especially on the solid black socks…made me a little dizzy) and b) start sooner!

  38. I absolutely adore Anne`s sock patterns; she is one of the very few designers that I will actually purchase sock patterns from rather than choose free designs.

    My escapade involved me finding the perfect pattern (Anne`s Tesserae socks) and purchasing my very favourite sock yarn (String Theory Caper) in my very favourite colour (spring green) and going to town. My socks had been coming out just a teeny bit big, not enough negative ease, so I decided to go down a size because I really wanted these to be perfect. Unfortunately, my mother now owns `my`very perfect favourite socks.

    Never doubt the measurements!

  39. I like your blog today! Thanks.

    My first sock I knitted it out of a variegated cotton. Because I didn’t swatch, it ended up to be almost big enough for an “Easter stocking”- pastels and all. I did knit my socks and they fit okay. After that I used a pattern from anne.

  40. Great choice. I have a bunch of Anne’s sock patterns and they are so well written. I have the SPEASP and didn’t even think of plugging in a stitch pattern. Must did that pattern out now. Can’t wait to see your socks.

  41. When I first started knitting again, I asked my husband if he wanted me to knit him something. He shrugged and said no. Ok, fine, then. I went ahead and knit my kids boot socks and myself some nice wool knee socks. Along the way, he caught the bug and asked for a pair of thick socks. I happily knit him a pair out of worsted weight wool, which he put through the washer and dryer. he now says they fit better (they were a little loose). All’s well that ends well…

  42. One of my New Years Resolutions was to teach myself Socks…I’m pleased to say I have 1 pair under me but would LOVE to knit some of Anne’s designs. Another reslution is to make more Knitspot patterns 🙂
    p.s. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Shepherd’s Wool!! Maybe one day I will make it up North to visit the Mill for myself.

  43. I couple of years ago for mother’s day I decided I’ll knit my mom and sister(who at that time recently became I mom) socks as gifts. I start knitting my sister socks first since her feet were longer than my moms. I knit the socks using the magic loop method top-down and made a mistake measuring the foot of the socks and they wound-up being an inch too short. I gave the socks to my mom(not as her gift) since I didn’t want to take out the toe.

    I got new yarn for my sister’s socks and made the second pair of socks the right size for her feet. I even made little socks for my baby niece at the time. The socks that were a gift to my mom were the quickest fingering weight socks I ever made at the time, the pair took me less than a week. Of course when I got to my mom’s socks I was crunched for time in getting them done.

  44. My mother is crafty — quilting (NOT machine, by hand), paints, tats, crochets, knits. She does everything. EXCEPT knitting socks. I am working on her Mother’s Day socks — plain vanilla, but would love a KnitSpot pattern for her birthday pair!

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