Learn to Knit Cozy Socks

So you want to learn to knit socks, and you’ve already done the basic casting on and the notorious turning of the heel. That’s fantastic! It means you’re ready for part three: shaping the toe, otherwise known as finishing the darn thing. You will have learned to knit socks!

Step One: Dividing the stitches

When we finished, you’d just picked up 38 stitches. You now have your stitches arranged as follows: Needle one: 48 st Needle two: 15 st Needle three: 15 st And you just finished knitting across the heel flap. Now you’re going to keep knitting onto needle two. But you need 30 stitches on needle two, not 15. Fortunately, that’s an easy fix: when you finish with needle two set your working needle aside for a moment and use needle two as your working needle while you knit the rest of the stitches off needle three. For just a moment, you’re down to two needles. You now have Needle one: 48 st Needle two: 30 st and you’re almost ready to learn how to knit the heel rounds. First, you need to bring needle three back into play. Take your working needle and knit 24 stitches onto needle three. You’re now at the beginning of a round with: Needle one: 24 st Needle two: 30 st Needle three: 24 st And it’s time to learn to knit the heel rounds.

Step Two: The Heel Rounds

After everything else you’ve done, this should be easy. You’re going to repeat the next two rounds over and over again until you only have 60 stitches left (15, 30, and 15). In other words, we’re going to get rid of the 38 stitches we picked up. These are the rounds: ROUND ONE: Needle one: Knit to the last three stitiches. K2 tog, K1. Needle two: Knit. Needle three: K1, Sl1, K1, psso. Knit to end of round. ROUND TWO: Knit.

Step Three: Knitting the foot

Once you have 15, 30, and 15 stitches, it’s time to learn to knit the foot length — and it’s so easy it’s bound to make you smile. Knit 35 rounds.

Step Four: Toe shaping

Just like we did when we were knitting the heel rounds, you’re going to repeat three rounds over and over until you’re down to 24 stitches (6, 12, and 6). They are: ROUND ONE: Needle One: Knit to last 3 st. K2 tog. K1. Needle Two: K1, Sl1, K1, psso. Knit to last 3 st. K2 tog, K1. Needle Three: K1, Sl1, K1, psso. Knit to end of round. ROUNDS TWO AND THREE: Knit.

Step Five: Joining the Toe

We’re going to learn to knit the toe together and cast off all at once. Ready? First you need to arrange the stitches one last time. You have 6, 12, and 6 stitches right now, and you’re at the beginning of a round. Put your working needle aside and, using the first needle as your temporary working needle, knit six stitches off needle two onto needle one. You now have 12, 6, and 6. Slide the six stitches from needle 3 onto needle two. We’re back to two needles with 12 stitches each, and we’re ready to learn to knit the toe. Break the yarn about two feet from the end. Take a working needle. Put it through the first stitch on needle one as if to knit and then through the first stitch on needle two as if to knit. Knit the stitch, pulling it back through BOTH loops and sliding BOTH off their needles. Knit one more stitch the same way. All you have to do now is cast off as you usually would. The only difference is that instead of knitting one stitch at a time, you’re knitting through two at once.

And guess what? You’ve finished your sock!