Goats Recommend… Favorite Vanilla Sock Patterns (Top-Down edition).
Seasoned sock knitters often have a sock pattern that’s their go-to, the one we knit time and again, or that we’ve adapted with our own customizations like adding stripes, cables, or textures.
This year we polled our Socktober participants for their favorite sock patterns to create a crowd-sourced list from real knitters and crocheters in our Goat community! In addition, we’ve organized some bundles over in Ravelry if you’d prefer to browse them there.
This is the first in a series of blog posts on different “flavors” of favorite sock patterns, starting with good old reliable vanilla, knit top-down (cuff to toe)!
Vanilla doesn’t have to mean boring — it can be classic and classy. When folks talk about “vanilla” in their knits, they mean the pattern and design is meant to be easy, pared-down, or straightforward. Vanilla socks can be a great choice for beginners, especially as you’re learning the structure and techniques related to socks.
Find the Vanilla Top-Down Bundle on Ravelry!
Top-Down Vanilla Favorites
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Classic Socks by Yankee Knitter — recommended by MULTIPLE Goats! The old standard many of us learned socks on and is written for a range of sizes from babies through large adult, in three yarn weights (fingering, sport, worsted).
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I’m So Basic Socks by Summer Lee: FREE pattern from the sock maven herself! This pattern is written for Magic Loop, and comes with extensive photos and links to technique videos. We have copies of Summer’s sock book here.
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Rye by Tin Can Knits: Recommended by several Goats, this is the FREE pattern we selected for our Socktober beginner sock! Rye comes in Fingering, DK, and Worsted weight, and ranges in size from babies to adults. This pattern can also be used in the FREE Tin Can Knits app, with embedded resources and techniques. Here’s a TCK blog post on getting started with the Rye sock. One recommender also added that they use Rye as their basic sock pattern that they’ve modified with stripes and simple stitch textures.
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Vanilla Socks on Magic Loop by The Crazy Sock Lady: Kay Litton is a beloved YouTuber under the name Crazy Sock Lady, and has an accompanying video tutorial to go with this pattern, as well as the others in her Vanilla Sock series. She has a whole series of videos and patterns for exploring the different needles you can use for socks. Another Goat recommended Kay’s Vanilla Socks on 9” Circulars!
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#216 Beginner’s Lightweight Socks by Knitting Pure and Simple: The recommender says: “It's simple and easy to knit. Plus its simplicity helps to highlight self stripping yarns!” Written for adult sizes.
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Sonder Socks by Sonder Yarn Co: FREE pattern! The recommender adds that this is an “easy pattern for beginners, with lots of helpful tips.” The pattern includes some options for adding ribbing, as well as an option for how to use miniskeins for contrasting heels/toes/cuff.
- Discovery Sock by Cat Bordhi: Cat was an amazing and innovative designer. Discovery Sock is unavailable as a single pattern, but can be purchased in a book of 27 original sock patterns. The recommender adds, “These were the best fitting socks and you always learn a lot with her patterns.”
Join us for Socktober!
We’ve got about 160 folks joining us for Socktober this year — our biggest Socktober yet! We kicked it off on Zoom and in person last week, but it’s not too late to join! And this year, we’ve got a great pattern picked out for beginners to socks, as well as a super-spicy option for sock veterans. Or you can knit your favorite sock pattern — and please do share it with us!
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