As a comparison to yesterday’s throwback post, here is my latest pair of socks finished. These are women’s size 5 socks knitted from fingering weight variegated super-wash merino wool and nylon yarn. I knitted them at the same time with two circular needles, which I much prefer over double pointed needles. They were knitted toe-up, which I also prefer, except for binding off. I tore out and reknit the top of one sock three times trying to get a stretchy bind-off. I ended up with a tubular bind-off, which is like a Kitchener grafting stitch, and goes well with 1×1 ribbing. I don’t care for the heel construction on these; I didn’t grasp the way to pick up stitches that were wrapped on the short rows. The good news is that there are dozens of different ways to do heels.

My youngest reports that they are quite comfy. I do think hand knit socks are worth the effort for this reason.