My First Sock Yarn

I've been researching knitting socks for ages, even put some books on my Christmas wish list.  As it is I ended up with two books on knitting socks, both are the toe-up variety.  The thing is I've been drooling over it and researching for a few months now and decided it was time to get to it.

So here is the yarn I got, Opal Surprise 4ply.  This isn't the yarn I had planned on buying, it's a bit more expensive than I planned to learn on but when I saw it I couldn't resist the colours.  Opal is supposed to be very good quality that really lasts.



To go with it I needed some circular knitting needles (I can't get the hang of DPN's) and I figured that for Magic Looping that 40 inches would be a good length. I wasn't sure what sizes to get as I have no idea what my gauge is going to be so I opted for 2.25mm and 2.5mm (the 2.5mm is what the ball band says).   Hopefully one of these will give me a good gauge for socks as you usually work these at a tighter gauge than normal.



For now I'm just going to start knitting a swatch, first a flat one with 2.5mm needles in garter stitch to get the hang of working with tiny needles and thinner yarn.  Once I'm happy I'm going convert this sample into a tube and change to stockinette stitch with magic loop.  After I get the tube going I'm going to switch the needle size to the smaller one (leaving a mark of some kind to show where I changed).

I know more experienced knitters would just start with the sock and use that as the swatch but I'm being careful (I worry too lol).  I'm hoping that the opal won't mind being unpicked so I don't waste any.  After I get my gauge checked (and it's suitable) I can start with my socks.  I still can't decide if I will do a plain vanilla sock or a ribbing one, we shall see :)

Have Fun!