Elizabeth Bennett's Perl Sock Program

This program generates the instructions for knitting a basic crew sock, based on your gauge in the yarn of your choice and on the ankle circumference of the intended wearer. It is based on several years' of sock-knitting experience. Similar formulas can be found in:

Mary Thomas's Knitting Book. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1972.

See pages 211-232 for a thorough discussion of basic sock knitting techniques.

Socks!. Picksons, SC: Brunswick Worsted Mills Inc., 1981.

I learned to knit socks from this pamphlet.

Lizbeth Upitis, "Stocking basics," in Knitters, Spring/Summer 1985, p. 66.

As she says, "Make yourself some tea and do a little math before you begin."

A few notes for my knitting friends: If you have never knitted socks before, this pattern is probably not the best place to start. There are several excellent books available on knitting socks that you can find at your public library, local yarn shop, or bookstore. Or take a class at your LYS -- lots of things about socks are harder to explain than to do.

In any case, this pattern assumes that you understand standard knitting pattern abbreviations and knitting on double-pointed needles in the round.

Please understand that although I'm always glad to hear from knitters who have found this program useful (or have found a problem with the instructions), I can't answer emails asking for help with sock knitting questions.

Last, this program is not useful for knitting a knee sock. The shaping of a knee sock is more complex. Someone could doubtless write a program that would account for the considerable variation in human legs, but this program doesn't.

Note: Inspired by my moment of fame in Amy Singer's blog on the Interweave Knits web site, I have fixed the problem with the gusset for the square heel. (2/15/06).