Goats Recommend… Favorite Vanilla Sock Patterns (Toe-Up 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 one of a series of blog posts on different “flavors” of favorite sock patterns, and this week we’ve got vanilla with rainbow sprinkles! The patterns listed below are beginner-friendly socks knit from the toe to the cuff, aka toe-up socks. Many folks begin their sock journeys with a top-down sock (cuff to toe) — see the previous post for our crowd-sourced list of favorite top-down vanilla sock patterns — so toe-up can be a new way to explore the structure of a sock. 

Vanilla patterns are often a great choice for learning a new skill — not too many bells and whistles to distract you while you’re focusing on that new technique, but still classy and classic. 

Find the Vanilla Toe-Up Bundle on Ravelry!

Toe-Up Vanilla Favorites

• Trusty Toe-Up Socks by Tanis Lavallee: FREE pattern that is infinitely customizable. The recommender adds that they’ve used it to make fun, striped socks as a “stash-blaster” for bits of sock yarn.
  
  
• My First Toe-Up Socks by Susan B. Anderson: This pattern was written to accompany a Craftsy class on Toe-Up socks, and uses an afterthought heel. Our Goat says: “It is a well written pattern, they fit well because she teaches you how to measure your foot properly. You can do magic loop or double points, and there is an afterthought heel
  
  
• Basic Sock No. 5: Toe-Up Recipe with Fleegle Heel by Summer Lee: Summer Lee is the queen of socks! This pattern for a basic toe-up sock with a fleegle heel is in Summer’s book of sock patterns — that also comes with extensive information (plus great photos) for the sock-loving knitter.
  
  
• Kettle Chip Socks by Maddy Moe: This is a FREE pattern designed to showcase the fun of self-striping sock yarn in a toe-up OR top-down construction, using the afterthought heel. The pattern also includes links to technique videos.
  
  
• DRK Everyday Socks by Andrea Mowry: This is an all-over ribbed sock with a fleegle heel. The Goat who recommended it: “I love that they’re toe up, I love the Fleegle heel and I love the ribbing! They always fit the best of all the socks I’ve made.”

Join us for Socktober!

We’ve got about 160 folks joining us for Socktober this year — our biggest Socktober yet! It’s not too late to join in on the sock-making fun! 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! 

Sign up for Socktober at our KAL page!