Ask the Knitters

Hi Knitters,

I'm interested in knitting socks the flat way, as in back-and-forth on straight needles, not in the round.  Do you know of good, free patterns available to show me how to do this?

Is this a common way of knitting socks?  Does flat knitting of socks produce well-fitting ones?  I've read about knitters doing this, but I don't believe I've seen a knitter do this (in person).

Thanks for you you help,

Flat Feet in Florida

*                        *                           *

Help a knitter out and leave your answer below!   Have a question that you'd like answered here?  E-mail your question to service@simplysockyarn.com and yours may be chosen for the blog.

Comments

[Elizabeth D]

http://freevintageknitting.com/patternbook/doreenvol93.html you can download individual patterns for free from this old knitting book, or buy it for a ridiculously low price
http://www.woolworks.org/patterns/seabury_sox.txt The Seabury sock is an Internet classic, made of Lamb's Pride worsted
http://www.lindascraftique.com/free/tnsocks.htm

Also, an Internet search for "two-needle socks" or "two needle socks" gets lots of hits.

Haven't made any of these, but this should be enough to get you started.

[Kathryn in Minnesota]

Interweave Knits ran a story on the Better Mousetrap socks several years ago. The socks are easy to knit, work in a variety of yarns and in the hands of a variety of knitters.

[Andrea W in Nova Scotia]

Here is the link to 2 pr @ garnstudio that are knitted sideways. I've always thought they were "cool" but haven't gotten to try them yet.

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=103&d_id=5&lang=us

There may be more there too...just haven't looked.

Good luck + enjoy, Andrea