Basic Toe Up Socks

Knit a pair of socks toe-up in your favorite knitting style - using either dpns or circulars, one sock or two socks at a time. Learn how to measure your foot to get a well-fitting pair of socks. A lengthy section of the pattern will discuss gauge and finished measurements, which will vary. Knitting socks toe up also allows the knitter to try them on as they are being knit. Negative ease is IMPORTANT for hand knit socks. They need to hug the feet so they don't shift inside shoes, but the bind off also needs to be stretchy to pull the socks up over the heels. Many people knit socks too large, or they believe hand knit socks are not meant to be worn inside shoes. Hogwash!! If they are knit to fit the foot, they will fit in shoes and will be wonderfully comfortable. The pattern is a plain vanilla sock (meaning totally stockinette stitch; however, I tend to use up all my stash of sock yarn by knitting crazy, mismatched socks. (Well, I guess I could be knitting a sock yarn blanket, but socks just seem more practical to me sometimes especially in the Midwest)! PS - I listed three needle sizes but the knitter will only use one size most likely and needs to decide which size works best for her/his knitting tension. I tend to knit loose, so I always use a U.S. Size 0.