Almost two months ago I mentioned that I was making my first attempt at knitting a sock. I took my sock with me to Cairns and attempted to follow the instructions on the yarn label. All was fine until I got to the part that says ‘heel flap’. I actually managed to create a ‘flap’ but then had no idea what I was doing and somehow ended up with 28 stitches instead of 68 so had to undo all my good work. It had taken me over a week to get that little bit done and I had been doing it wrong the entire time!

After unpicking I discovered a pattern using the same wool at Spotlight so bought it and had another go. All was well until….I got to that part that says ‘gusset’. Sigh. How on earth did all those ladies knit all those socks during the war years? Lots of practice I’m sure.

Well, after searching on-line (because you can find anything on-line these days) I found a fantastic tutorial that has pictures and simple language. None of this ’sst the left needle yarn ott of the rhn’ (ok I made that up but knitting language is a bit crazy sometimes). She writes out the instructions in full and very step by step, simple enough for me to follow.

So. So far I have the ribbing, the long bit for your ankle and the other night I turned my first heel. I have now done the gusset and am up to knitting the length of the foot. Just the toe to go as far as complicated bits go. Oh and then I just have to knit a second sock. This will be followed by me wanting to knit a second pair of socks to see how long it really takes (using prettier wool).

Here’s the sock so far:

If you look hard you can see the heel emerging there.