Getting Started Knitting Socks

This book is great. I'm eager to start making socks.

I have many books on knitting socks I have purchased throughout the years but this is the best. The instructions are so well and cleary written, easy to choose a pattern and yarn. For me this is really the only book on sock knitting one needs. So happy that I discovered it.

I love this book because it explains the basics of sock knitting in detail. Multiple patterns in every yarn type from fingering sock yarn to bulky yarn. Just finished my first pair from this book and they fit perfect!!

Wow! After purchasing about five other sock-knitting how-to books, HERE'S the one I should have bought at the very first! Not only does Ms. Budd cover the rudiments of sock making and shaping, etc, she covers about every GAUGE imaginable. Do you want to make socks out of a bulky Boucle yarn? No problem! She has the gauge for that. Wanna try out socks with a basic worsted weight? She's got that here too! PLUS, she has all sorts of beautiful stitches to jazz up your socks. She even has the stitches divided up according to their repeats, so you can easily find a stitch pattern that will work with the amount of stitches you need for your gauge. I haven't gotten through all the book yet. But what I've seen so far is...WOW! I've got another book on order from Ms. Budd. Can't wait! In short: BUY THIS ONE. Yeah!

I tried several other sock knitting books (with terrible results and frustration!) before I stumbled upon this gem. This was the book that FINALLY made sock knitting make sense to me! The book begins with an in-depth explanation of the anatomy of a sock as well as all the skills that you'll need to knit one. From there, it gives you several "recipes" to knit socks based on stitches-per-inch. In the back of the book, there are also some nice patterns. The book also gives you some different stitch patterns (different ribs, cables, etc) to mix in to your basic socks when you are ready to try something new. I read the entire introduction to this book to begin with, and then I made a swatch from some yarn I had laying around. Based on the stitches per inch that I got, I went to the page of the book for the "X Stitches Per Inch" sock, and it walked me through my first top-down sock! It was as easy as pie. After many failed attempts with other books, I couldn't believe how easy this book made it. Note that all the patterns in this book are knitted top-down. If you want to learn to knit toe-up socks, you'll want to look elsewhere. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get started in sock knitting. It's a great jumping off place. This book helps you truly understand the shapes and techniques of sock knitting -- and once you have a firm grasp on those, the sky is the limit!

If you swear that no book can teach you sock knitting, that you need someone to sit with you for a month and show you how, this is the book that will change your mind. As observed in other reviews, the instructions and photos are impeccable, but I want to tell you about the layout! This is among the most intelligently laid-out instructional books I've ever seen. Many other sock books will lead you through the steps: Step one, cast on. There follows four pages on how to cast on. Step two, knit x rows of ribbing. There follows two pages on how to knit ribbing. Step three, begin the heel flap. There follows five pages . . . you get the idea. Ann Budd separates the how-tos from the overview, the clear, abbreviated instructions, in which the rhythm of the whole thing is evident -- and you never, ever lose sight of the path. Struggling with the heel flap? Refer back to the how-to section where you'll find detailed, SUPERB photos and instruction, then return to the three-page abbreviated instructions and continue on. And here's evidence of that layout brilliance: Each such how-to section is confined to a clearly demarcated set of pages (with lots of pix and lots of white space), and is not part of a huge flowing unit of text that covers thirty pages which you must search to find the part you want. Once you've completed a pair of socks or two or three, you don't need to turn back to the how-to section, and -- lo! You're ready to knit any pair of socks from anyone else's abbreviated instructions (*Sl 1 pwise wyib, k 1; rep from * and the like). Also, because the sock patterns here are classed strictly by gauge (5 stitches to the inch, e.g.), you're not tied to specific brands of yarn. Handspinners rejoice! Knit up a swatch of a given handspun yarn, select the page of instructions that matches the gauge and GO.

Ann Budd has made a clearly illustrated, beautifully detailed book. It has the best pictures and instructions I've seen -- like a more detailed and colorful Handy Book of Patterns. I love it -- and I have 12 other sock books. She includes general patterns as well as "this is the reasoning behind it, measure your feet and you can make them perfect for yourself" kind of patterning. It's nice to have both. Well done.