Evil Sock Genius Lessons

These lessons walk you through knitting a toe-up sock with any yarn, any gauge, to fit any size.

For more concise instructions to knit a typical sock from typical sock yarn, see Evil Genius Socks - Redux.

If you like these patterns and want to thank me with a cup of coffee, an Evil Sock Genius could always use the caffeine.

Weapons

    • Desirable yarn.

    • Long, circular needle in appropriate size for the yarn. Cable should be at least 32 or 40 inches long. Knit Picks and Addi Turbos have superior cables: soft and flexible.

    • Stitch markers; coil-less safety pin type is recommended.

LESSON ONE: USE MAGIC

Evil Geniuses explore new tools & techniques.

Magic Loop is a method of knitting a sock (or other small circumference) using a long circular needle. When knitting, the back half of your sock hangs in the middle of your needle cable. There will be two big loops of cable on either side, and you work across the front of your sock with the ends of the circular needle. Type "magic loop" into your favorite search engine to find videos and illustrations.

LESSON TWO: USE SHORTCUTS

Evil Geniuses hate wasting time. Just start knitting.

The toe of your sock is your gauge swatch. Grab a circular needle in the size indicated on the yarn band (or one size smaller), then use Turkish Cast-On.

Turkish Cast-On

    • Hold your circular needle so that both ends are together, pointed to the right.

    • Pull the bottom needle to the right, so your top needle is held together with the bottom cord.

    • Start your yarn in back of the needles, leaving a 12" tail hanging.

    • Wrap the yarn over toward you, down across the front and up the back of the needles.

    • Wrap until you have the same number of loops as the yarn label says there are in an inch.

Rounded Toe

    • Knit across the stitches on the "top" needle. Be sure to keep your stitches snug on the "bottom" needle.

    • Hold working yarn and tail together, and work 1 round. (This doubles the number of loops on each side.)

    • Drop the tail, and knit one round, working one stitch in each loop.

Toe Increases

    • Knit 2, YO, knit until 2 stitches remain on that side, YO, knit 2. Repeat for other side.

    • Knit round, making sure to twist the yarnovers by knitting into their backs. (Note: You can "mirror" the increases by twisting them in different directions).

    • Repeat these two rounds until your toe is the right circumference. I find that 8.5 inches around is a good target, or about 10% less than the circumference of the intended wearer's foot.