If your feet get cold quickly during yoga and you want to have a firm footing on the mat, yoga socks are ideal. You can make them yourself quickly and easily with the knitting instructions from Dylon. All you need is a little basic knowledge of knitting, sock wool, a set of needles and some time and pleasure in needlework.
Yoga is generally practiced barefoot, as a firm connection to the floor and a secure grip are important for most exercises. In postures such as downward-facing dog, yogis would otherwise have to struggle with slipping socks, as the pressure on the front of the foot would almost automatically cause the socks to come off. But what if you have cold feet the whole yoga class without socks? Yoga socks were invented for such cases – and they are also easy to make yourself. This special footwear consists of warm woolen socks that are open at the front and made without heels. This allows you to stand securely in all yoga postures – without slipping socks.
You don't need a lot of material or time to knit customized yoga socks. All you need is a little knowledge about knitting before you start the project. If you know how to increase and decrease stitches and knit and purl stitches, you are already well equipped. Knitting yoga socks is therefore also doable for beginners who are just discovering needlework. To get started, you need:
· approx. 100 grams of sock wool
· a needle gauge of 2.5
· a pair of scissors
· a sewing needle for wool
Once everything is ready, you can get started straight away. First, you should decide how big you want the socks to be. That's why every good yoga sock knitting pattern starts with a consideration of the number of stitches. If you are using sock yarn and knitting neither particularly tight nor particularly loose, 64 stitches on average will result in a sock that corresponds to shoe size 40. If you want to knit smaller or larger socks, you will need to do a little math. However, it is always important that you have an even number of stitches so that you can distribute them evenly over all four needles.
Once you know how many stitches you need, start picking up the stitches – in our example, there are 64 in total. It is a good idea to pick up 32 stitches on two needles and then divide them over all four needles by pulling each needle halfway out of the stitches. Then knit two stitches and purl two stitches in rounds. This creates an elastic sock leg in a rib pattern.
Once the leg of the sock is long enough (you can decide when this is the case according to your own preferences), cast off half of the stitches. In our example, this is 32 stitches, which then form the back end of the hook hole. Needle 1 and needle 2 are now stitchless, needles 3 and 4 are knitted in rib pattern for one more row. As soon as you have finished knitting all the stitches on needle 4, start picking up 32 stitches again on needles 1 and 2. This creates a new circle of stitches, which is now knitted in rib pattern for another four to five rounds. This gives the hook hole elasticity and stability.
Now you can decide whether you want the part that surrounds the foot to be completely smooth or also in rib pattern at the top. For a smooth stitch pattern, knit 40 rounds with knit stitches only. If, on the other hand, you want to demonstrate the rib pattern, continue to knit two knit and two purl stitches alternately on needles 3 and 4. You can also hold the sock against your foot from time to time while knitting or pull it on carefully. This will show you whether the 40 rows are enough or whether you need to adjust the general instructions for knitting yoga socks and whether more or fewer rounds are required.
All you need to knit yoga socks is some wool and time. Handicrafts can be just as relaxing as a yoga class.
To finish, knit another four rounds in rib pattern on all four needles and remove the stitches. Then cut the yarn and sew the ends at the beginning and end of the sock. Now all you have to do is create the second sock using the same yoga sock knitting instructions and you have a beautiful pair of individual foot warmers that will make your yoga class even more relaxing. To make sure you enjoy your yoga socks for a long time, you should treat them with a mild detergent such as Perwoll Renew Wool. Perhaps you've now been inspired to do even more handicraft projects? Then you can try your hand at a triangular shawl, for example. Both are ideal for wearing during the relaxation phase at the end of a yoga class.