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A sock looks like the hardest thing you can knit and it is really five short, separate jobs in a row: a ribbed cuff, a flat heel flap, a turned heel, a gusset, and a toe. Each one is a few rounds of knitting you already know how to do. This ankle sock from PleasantSeas walks through all five in one sitting, on double pointed needles, in a yarn thick enough that you can see what every stitch is doing.
You need double pointed needles in US 3 (3.25mm), one or two 50g balls of DK or light worsted yarn, a stitch marker and a tapestry needle. If you would rather knit small circles on one long needle, magic loop works for every step here.
The pattern comes in three women's sizes. Cast on 42 stitches for a small (shoe size 5 to 7), 48 for a medium (7.5 to 9) and 56 for a large (9.5 and up). The video shows the small; every number below is for that size. Gauge is 28 stitches and 40 rounds to 4 inches in stockinette. Knit a small swatch first, because a sock that is half an inch too big around slouches down into your shoe by lunchtime.
Everything above and below the heel is plain knitting in the round. The heel is where a sock turns a corner, and it happens in three moves. The heel flap is worked flat on half the stitches, slipping the first stitch of every row so the edges form a neat chain. The heel turn is a set of short rows that cups the flap. Then you pick up those chain stitches down each side to rejoin the round, which creates the gusset, and decrease them away until you are back to your starting count.
Most first socks go wrong at the pick-up, by leaving a small hole where the flap meets the instep. Pick up one extra stitch in that corner and knit it together with its neighbour on the next round. The hole closes and nobody ever sees it.
This sock decreases to 10 stitches and then draws them closed with the tail, the same way you finish a hat crown. It is fast and it is hard to get wrong. If you want a flat toe with no gathered point, stop the decreases at around 16 stitches and graft them together instead with Kitchener stitch, which is what most sock patterns use.
Socks take more wear than anything else you will knit, so the fibre matters. Most sock yarn is about 75 percent wool and 25 percent nylon. The wool keeps feet warm and dry; the nylon is what stops the heel wearing through in a season. Pure merino is soft but thin at the heel within months, and cotton has no stretch, so the cuff sags.
This pattern uses a light DK, which is thicker than classic fingering-weight sock yarn. That is a good thing on a first pair. The stitches are bigger, the sock is finished in a weekend rather than a month, and you learn the heel without squinting. Once the shape makes sense, the same steps work in fingering yarn on 2.25mm needles with a larger cast-on.
The first sock always feels like an achievement and the second always feels like homework. Cast the second one on the day you finish the first, while your hands still remember the heel. Or knit both at once, one step at a time: two cuffs, then two heel flaps, then two turns. They come out matching and you are never left with one sock in a drawer.
When a hole wears through later, darning a sock takes ten minutes and a hand-knit pair is worth saving.
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Knit a basic ankle sock on double pointed needles in 10 photo steps: cuff, heel flap, heel turn, gusset and toe, with sizes and gauge. A medium project: about 12 hours. Materials cost about $18 to $28. You need 6 things, including self-patterning sock yarn, double pointed knitting needle set and knitting stitch markers. The 10 steps start with cast On 42 Stitches Across Three Double Pointed Needles and knit the Ribbed Sock Cuff in the Round.
10 steps, about 20 minutes. Tap a picture to jump to that step. Your progress saves automatically.
Tick each step off as you go.
Cast on 42 stitches and divide them evenly, 14 on each of three double pointed needles. Lay the needles in a triangle and check that the cast-on edge runs round the inside without twisting before you join. A twist here spirals down the whole sock and cannot be fixed.
A stretchy cast-on matters on a sock because it has to go over your heel. The long tail cast-on on a needle one size up is enough.
Place a stitch marker to mark the start of the round and work knit one, purl one all the way round. Repeat for 7 rounds. That is a short ankle cuff; for a crew sock, keep going to an inch and a half or two inches.
Keep the working yarn snug as you move from one needle to the next. That changeover is where ladders form.
Knit across 21 stitches, then leave the other 21 resting on a needle for the top of the foot. Turn and work only the heel stitches back and forth: slip the first stitch purlwise, purl across, turn, slip the first stitch, knit across. Repeat until the flap is square, about as long as it is wide.
Always slip the first stitch of every row. The chain edge it makes is what you pick up from in step five.
The heel turn uses decreases to cup the bottom of the flap. Knit 14, slip slip knit, turn. Slip one, purl 7, purl two together, turn. Slip one, knit 7, slip slip knit, turn. Keep working one stitch further each time, closing the gap with a decrease, until every heel stitch has been used.
The gap between worked and unworked stitches is your guide. Each decrease always spans that gap.
Knit across the remaining heel stitches, then pick up and knit one stitch in each slipped chain loop down the side of the flap, 12 in all. Knit across the 21 instep stitches, then pick up 12 more up the other side. You are back to knitting in the round, with extra stitches at each side of the heel.
Pick up one extra stitch in the corner where the flap meets the instep, then knit it together with its neighbour next round. It closes the hole.
On the next round, knit to three stitches before the instep, knit two together, knit one. Knit across the instep. At the start of the other side, knit one, slip slip knit, and knit to the end. Knit one plain round. Repeat those two rounds until you are back to 42 stitches.
Two stitches go every other round. Count at the end of each decrease round so you know exactly when to stop.
Now it is just knitting. Work every round plain until the foot measures about 7 inches from the back of the heel, or two inches less than the full length of the wearer's foot. Try it on as you go if you are knitting for yourself.
Measure along the sole with the sock lying flat, not stretched. Stretched measurements always come out short.
Knit one plain round. On the next, decrease at both sides of the foot: knit two together and knit one before each side edge, knit one and slip slip knit after it. Alternate decrease rounds with plain rounds four times, then work decrease rounds only until 10 stitches remain.
Match the decreases to where the gusset decreases sat and the toe lines up with the sides of the foot.
Cut the yarn with a long tail and thread it on a tapestry needle. Pass it through all 10 live stitches, slip them off the needles, and pull tight to gather the toe. Take the tail to the inside and weave it in along the purl bumps.
Weave the tail in on the diagonal. Straight up and down, it pulls out in the wash.
Put it on. The heel should sit snug on the back of your foot and the cuff should hold without sliding down. Then cast on the second one straight away, using the same counts, so the pair matches.
Wash hand-knit socks on a wool cycle and dry them flat. Sock blockers help them keep their shape.
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How to Knit Socks
Knit Picks
Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Needle Set
Swap tips and cables for any project instead of buying single needles forever. The nickel tips are slick and fast, and it all lives in one case.
Lion Brand
Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton Yarn
Mercerized cotton with crisp stitch definition and a subtle sheen, machine washable. A workhorse for dishcloths, bags, and warm-weather garments.
Clover
Clover Locking Stitch Markers (20-pack)
Lock onto the needle so they never slide off, and mark repeats, increases, and the start of a round. Small tool, saves the most frogging.
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Question 1 of 5
Why check the cast-on edge for a twist before joining in the round?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.Why check the cast-on edge for a twist before joining in the round?
Answer: A twist spirals down the sock and cannot be undone
Once joined, a twisted round carries through every round below it.
2.How is the heel flap worked?
Answer: On half of the stitches, back and forth flat
The other half rests on a needle for the top of the foot.
3.Why slip the first stitch of every heel flap row?
Answer: It makes a chain edge to pick up stitches from
Those slipped chains become the gusset stitches you pick up later.
4.What are the gusset decreases for?
Answer: They bring the stitch count back to the cast on
Picking up along the flap adds stitches, and the gusset takes them back off.
5.When do you stop knitting the foot and start the toe?
Answer: About two inches short of the full foot length
The toe decreases add roughly the last two inches themselves.
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