SockKnit
The Journal
How to Read (and Trust) a Gauge Swatch
A swatch only tells you the truth if you knit and measure it properly. Here's how to make one that actually predicts how your sock will turn out.
How Much Yarn Do You Need for a Pair of Socks?
A practical way to estimate sock yarn yardage from your own measurements and gauge, instead of hoping a single 50g skein is enough.
Choosing the Right Needle Size for Sock Yarn
Needle size is a starting point, not a rule — here's how the US and metric systems relate, and how to actually land on the right size for your yarn.
Turning a Heel: Flaps, Gussets, and Short Rows Explained
The heel is where sock construction gets interesting. Here's what a heel flap, a gusset, and a short-row heel actually do, in plain terms.
Toe-Up or Cuff-Down: Choosing a Sock Construction
Neither direction is objectively better — they trade off differently on yarn management, fit adjustment, and how the heel gets built. Here's how to pick.
Negative Ease: Why Your Sock Should Be Smaller Than Your Foot
Cast on for your exact foot measurement and the sock will still end up loose. Here's why sock patterns build in negative ease on purpose.
Tracking Rows and Repeats Without Losing Your Place
Losing count mid-pattern is one of the most common ways a sock goes wrong. A few habits — and the right tools — make it far less likely.
The Heel You Can Replace, and the Measurement That Should Decide
Most discussions of sock heels compare the flap-and-gusset with the short-row heel and stop there. Two things get left out, and both are more practical than…
Toe-Up or Cuff-Down? Let the Yarn Decide
Toe-up and cuff-down are the two ways to knit a sock, and the choice is usually presented as a matter of taste. There is one practical consideration that…
The Cast-On Count Decides Everything After It
The cast-on count is where a knitted-in-the-round project is decided. Everything after it — the fit, the pattern repeats, whether the ribbing comes out even…
Keeping Your Place in a Pattern Repeat
Losing your place in a pattern repeat is not a sign of carelessness; it is what happens when a task has no natural landmarks. A row counter that tracks the…
US Versus Metric Needle Sizes, and Why Sock Knitters Need Half Sizes
Needle sizing carries two systems that do not line up neatly, and the mismatch causes more confusion than it should.