Knitting socks - Start and sew lace types

• Material and preparation
• Type 1: Knit ribbon lace
• Type 2: band lace with stitch stitch
• Type 3: start with the tip
• Type 4: Tip with shortened rows
  • Long and short tip
  • Wide and narrow tip

Knitting socks is easier than it looks at first glance. The use of five individual needles may be unusual, but after your first self-knitted socks you will not want to stop. Even as a beginner, you can complete the artwork within a few hours and quickly achieve first successes. With our guide you can learn how to knit socks and start and sew the lace types.

The front sock part, which encloses the toes, is referred to in the jargon as a tip. There are many different ways to knit this sock area. It can be started from the shaft and finished with the tip or the stocking is started at the top. The decreases can be varied in number and knitting and it is also possible to work the sock tip in an open form and stitch together invisibly with the stitch stitch. Learn some knitting techniques in this guide and try out which one suits you best.

Material and preparation

You can take any yarn of your choice. In addition, you need a needle game in the right needle size. For a pair of socks you need on average 100 grams of wool. For very large socks or stockings that reach to the knee or thigh, the use of Konenwolle is recommended. The yarn is not wrapped with 25g, 50g or 100g amount of wool into a ball, but placed with several hundred grams on a cone. The advantage is obvious - especially with socks, round knitwear or scarves, it is enormously helpful to be able to knit without interruption from start to finish. In these knits, it is otherwise difficult to invisibly sew the initial threads of new bone.

You need this:

• about 100g of wool
• Needle match of the appropriate size
• Double needle or a thick darning needle
• scissors

Type 1: Knit ribbon lace

Each sock tip is about reducing the sock circumference in its mesh size. These delivery points are on the side of the toes. Knitt the desired sock length. If you pull the sock over your foot while knitting to try it on, the total length should go to the small toe, then you can start with the top.

Start with needle number 1. Knit all stitches to the right until there are three stitches left on the needle. Knit the next two stitches together on the left, then knit the last stitch of the first needle on the right. Now you come to the second needle, which is also removed. For this purpose, the first stitch of the second needle is worked right and the second and third stitch are knitted together on the left. Knit the remaining stitches of the second needle and move to the third needle. Work the last three stitches of the third needle as pickups by first knitting two stitches on the left and knitting the last stitch on the right. Start with the fourth needle and knit the first stitch on the right and knit the two following stitches on the left.

This completes the first round of the top pick-up.

Now knit a series of right stitches over all needles.

The next round will be played in the same way as described in the first round. One stitch before the end of the first and one stitch after the beginning of the second needle are knitted together two stitches on the left. Also a stitch before the end of the third needle and after the first stitch of the fourth needle. After a round of deduction, there is always one round of right stitches over all four needles. In this way knit until 2-3 stitches remain on each needle. If you place the sock flat on the table and the needle 1 and 4 and needle 2 and 3 are next to each other, you can clearly see the removal areas.

If the decrease has progressed so far that only four to six stitches on the top and bottom are left, the sock length is finished and the top of the sock is closed. To do this, end with a round of deduction. Knitt all the stitches of the first needle and take the stitches of the fourth needle with you on the first needle. Also stitch together the stitches of the third and fourth needle on a needle. Cut the thread with a longer length, this is needed for decoiling.

Now the needles with the stitches are turned inwards to bind them there. It takes a little bit of tact to keep the stitches turning on the needles. If this seems too cumbersome, replace the needles of the needlestick with circular knitting needles. With these the turning succeeds very easily.

Now place both needles in succession, insert the first stitch in the front needle and then into the first stitch of the back needle. Knitt off both stitches together to the right.

Then insert into the next stitch of the front needle and into the first stitch of the back needle and knit both stitches together on the right. There are now two stitches on the right needle.

Take the first stitch and pull it over the second stitch.

This is the first stitch chained off. Continue working by knitting the first stitch of the front and back needle together and pulling the previous stitch over this second stitch. If only one stitch remains on the needle, the thread is pulled through and sewn clean. Done is the band lace.

Type 2: band lace with stitch stitch

In this variant, the lace is knitted as in the previous example, only the closing of the sock is different. Knit back to the point where the stitches of the four needles are combined on two needles. Cut the knitting yarn with generous length and thread it through the double needle or use a thick darning needle. The top and bottom of the sock are now sewn together with the stitch stitch so that no joint is visible.

Type 3: start with the tip

In this variant, the sock is started at the top. To do this, make six stitches (cast lightly, otherwise knitting the first rows will be difficult).

The needle is then turned so that the lower edge of the stitching points upwards. Take the stop thread (the short piece of thread) and use this to knit six new stitches from the bottom edge of the row of stitches. Two needles are now covered with stitches.

Now use the third needle to knit one round to the right over all twelve stitches.

Then the increases begin. For each of the two needles, the second and the penultimate stitch are doubled by knitting another stitch.

Work these increases three rounds at a time. Subsequently, the increases occur three times in each second round. You now have 36 stitches on the needles and a perfectly crafted lace. The advantage of this method is that you only need to work with three needles and you do not need to sew them together.

Type 4: Tip with shortened rows

The top with shortened rows is worked like the boomerang heel. When you have knitted the desired sole length, needle 4 and needle 1 are shut down and do not work anymore. They form with their stitches the upper part of the sock and are needed again for sewing together.

Continue knitting with needle 2 and 3 in the following way:

Knit all stitches from needle 2 to the right. Knit all stitches of needle 3 on the right. Turn the work over. Lift off the first stitch with the thread as for left-hand knitting. all other stitches of needles 2 and 3 work left. Then turn the work over again. Take off the first stitch as if to the left, it becomes a double stitch. Knit until the end of the third needle. The last stitch on the needle is a double stitch, do not knit it anymore. Turning to the left, knit as far as the last double stitch, leave it on the needle, turn it over and repeat in this way until only 3-4 stitches on needle 2 and needle 3 are knit smoothly to the right. These six to eight straight stitches make up the front of the top.

In order to obtain a closed sock tip from this knitted triangle, the previously shortened knitted rows are now extended again. As in the case of the boomerang heel, knit over the stitches of needles 2 and 3 by lifting off each starting stitch together with the thread as for the left knitting, knit all the stitches and at the end of the row take one double stitch back into the knitting process. In this way, the top of the top forms.

When all the double stitches start to knit again, take the stitches of needle 2 and needle 3 on a needle. The disused stitches of needles 1 and 4 are also placed on a needle. You now have two opposing rows of stitches that need to be joined together in a stitch stitch. If you do not put on the thread of this course, but work the stitches according to the needle size when stitching together, both rows will be connected invisibly and professionally.

Tip: Take a look at stitching stitches on the Internet in a stitch stitch. It is explained vividly and very easily, in which way into the individual stitches must be inserted, in order to obtain a perfect connection row.

Long and short tip

The length of the tip can be varied. If you knit a row of smooth right stitches across all four needles after each round and work in that shift, you will get more rows until there are only the remaining stitches for sewing on the needle. This creates a long peak. On the other hand, if you take off in each round, you will finish with fewer laps, which will make the top shorter.

Wide and narrow tip

The number of stitches remaining stitched on the needle for stitching smoothly right varies due to the size of the sock and the wool thickness. Here you can experiment at will and set the mesh size to your own taste. If 3-6 stitches are available on each of the two needles for stitching the lace, the result is a narrow lace finish. This variant is suitable for thicker wool and for small and narrow feet. If you keep eight and more stitches on each needle, you'll end up with a wider hem that gives the sock a perfectly rounded look and is suitable for thin sock yarn and wide toe areas.