KNITTING PATTERNS BY KIERSTEN HARROD
Boxing Day Socks Pattern: FREE
One of the most basic sock patterns available, Boxing Day is more than a recipe for a simple ribbed sock. It is a guide for the knitter who is just barely ready to dip a toe (wink, wink) into the world of sock knitting. With detailed explanations of the elements of sock construction and thorough, non-abbreviated instructions, this pattern is a bridge for the newest sock knitter into new adventures!
Why knit the Boxing Day Socks Pattern?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard statements like these:
- I have always wanted to be able to knit socks, but they are way too hard for me. I wouldn’t have the first idea how to even get started.
- Sock patterns are too difficult to understand. They assume I know things I don’t. I can’t figure them out.
- Sock knitting has too many complicated techniques for a basic knitter like me.
- I want to learn but I’ll probably never get that good.
- I wish someone would teach me to knit socks.
This pattern is my answer to all of the above.
These socks are the ones I call my “vanilla socks.” The pattern is my go-to, brainless, I-don’t-have-to think-about-it pattern. The ribbing enables a wide range of fit, and it suits all kinds of yarn dyeing schemes. There are probably 50 other patterns available on the internet that will make the same sock.
Like the Checkerboard Dishcloth pattern, experienced knitters don’t need this pattern. So, who does?
Who Is This Pattern For?
The Boxing Day Socks pattern is written especially for knitters who want to start sock knitting but need a little extra help. Some folks are comfortable picking out a beginner-level pattern and just jumping in, and that’s terrific. But other people take a look at that pattern and immediately feel overwhelmed.
Pattern designers (myself included) like to keep our written patterns lean, efficient, and pithy. We don’t want to make you print a 27-page document when we can communicate the instructions on the front and back of one sheet for convenience.
However, that leads to a lot of shorthand. It means we don’t spend much time educating, and we assume our readers have a good bit of basic knowledge about how a sock is put together. Unfortunately, it means we can discourage a beginning sock knitter when we’d much rather be inspiring a new passion!
The Boxing Day Socks Pattern has written descriptions and links to free, ad-free videos to help the very beginning sock knitter learn the elements and skills involved in knitting a versatile, top-down, ribbed sock. These skills include:
- Long tail cast on
- Magic Loop
- Ribbing
- Transitioning from circular to flat to circular knitting
- Making a heel flap
- Short row heel turn
- Picking up stitches
- Paired decreases
- Wedge toe
- Kitchener Stitch grafting
- and tips and tricks along the way
Best of all? It’s FREE.
What materials Are needed?
What knitting skills do I need?
Beginning knitters with basic skills will have no problem with this fun pattern. You should be able to cast on, knit and purl, and weave in ends. You’ll be more comfortable if you’ve worked in the round before and have some familiarity with decreases and picking up stitches, but don’t worry if those skills are new to you. I teach them through the written instructions and free videos.
Where can I Get the FREE Boxing Day Socks Pattern?
You can get your easy-to-print PDF right here. Just click this button!
If you prefer to get this on Ravelry, click here.
Boxing Day Socks? Why Are They called that?
My husband Greg and I are old friends. By that I mean both that we’re old, and we’ve been friends a long time. We met in college, married other people, had families, and our families were friendly. My family moved away, and life, as is so often does, took some challenging turns for each of us. Years later, we found ourselves each single, and still friends, though long-distance ones.
Greg flew out to visit me for the first time in about 15 years the day after Christmas, known in some parts of the world as Boxing Day. I gave him a pair of socks to I’d knit as a gift. He liked them. The next year, I gave him another pair of socks (the brown ones above) on Boxing Day.
Those brown socks were the ones that inspired the idea for this pattern. One of us realized that I was in a similar process as I had been with the Checkerboard Dishcloth: knitting a pattern from my head that I thought was too easy for a written pattern.
That dishcloth episode reminded me that everyone starts as a beginner, when everything is challenging. I decided to take the opportunity to use my simple vanilla sock pattern to help others learn how to knit socks.
Socks are my very favorite things to knit. They’re also my favorite gifts to give to my favorite people.
Wouldn’t you love to cast on a sock today?
