I learned how to knit at the Upper Valley Waldorf School in first grade. After making a recorder case, a simple hat, a stuffed bunny, and more simple, pattern-less projects, I made my first pair of socks in 5th grade. They were barely sock-shaped, blue with a pink heel and purple toe, but still my absolute pride and joy.
In college I decided to make a new pair. It was cold in Ohio and somehow I’d forgotten to bring wool socks. I started by winging it, remembering that we hadn’t used a pattern as kids, but quickly realized this was definitely not going to work. It turns out that without a teacher carefully guiding me through, I desperately needed a pattern. I found a basic option online and proceeded to make countless pairs in a rainbow of colors. I used the same pattern every time until I decided it was time to level up my knitting a couple of years after graduating. Pattern books were the solution (and YouTube videos, but that's not what this is about).
The book I ended up with was 52 Weeks of Socks from Laine Publishing, featuring designs by 46 designers. This book has exactly what you’d expect: 52 absolutely stunning sock patterns. There are options for any level of knitter and a variety of weights, styles, and levels of detail. With so many great options I struggled to pick one to begin with, so I just started at the beginning. While it helped that I had done this before, I found the instructions easy to follow and created beautiful results. The blue beauties below could not have been more unlike the first pair I made in 5th grade, but I felt the same amount of achievement when they were done as I did back then. If you too are looking to up your sock game, this book is definitely the place to start!
Since knitting my first pair out of this book I’ve been slowly working my way through the patterns. It’s given me the opportunity to re-learn colorwork as well as textured patterns, and I’ve been absolutely addicted to churning out as many pairs as possible. Thank goodness we have such great local yarn shops to fulfill my yarn needs! Someday I’ll knit through the whole book, though I don’t think a pair of socks per week is in the cards for me this year. For now I’ll stick with a pair or two a month. And eventually I’ll start in on the sequel: 52 Weeks of Socks, Vol. II.
Intersections, design by Marceline Smith
H Rooker is the Bookstore Manager at Still North Books and Bar, and a lifelong New Englander.