Beautiful handmade socks - Crochet v Knitting

The soft feel of your foot slipping into a handmade sock must be one of the great experiences in life. My Aunt bought me my first pair when I was young and I still remember thinking how luxurious and comfortable they were! Making my own has now become a favourite pass time. 

Crochet v knitting

For years I thought handmade socks were always knitted, and kept wondering; can you crochet socks? I found a couple of patterns online and to be honest, having tried both knitting and crocheting, I am firmly in the crochet camp. The ease of using a crochet needle and an easy to follow pattern, means your socks will work up fairly quickly and without drama. They are incredibly comfortable and easy for crochet beginners and experts alike. Whereas I found the 4 needles of knitting quite tricky to work on. 

The first pattern I tried was from the fantastic @lakesideloops. I made a lovely pair of boot socks for my dad using Regia 4 ply, 75%wool, 23% nylon yarn. He loved the striped pattern and they've worn really well. 

I then stumbled across @simonefrancis7 and used her super easy pattern to create a few different colour combinations, which made lovely Christmas presents. 

Yarn type

Using specific sock yarn is great as it is soft, hardwearing and a little elastic. However, any yarn type will work, this year I made socks with 100% wool, 100% acrylic and a blended yarn. The results were all beautiful. Make sure to always crochet a test square to know your gauge so you get the size sock you are expecting at the end :)

Added extras

This year I added a row of elastic to the inside of the top of the socks to aid better fitting as they do tend to stretch. It was unseen and, I think, a valuable addition. 

The socks in the image were created from @simonefrancis7 using a varieties of colours to achieve some stunning combinations.