How to Make Socks on a Circular Sock Machine
Circular sock machines are considered antiques, but you can still knit socks in a variety of colors, patterns and materials. The benefit of using the circular machine is that the stitching goes evenly around the sock which can be more difficult to do using traditional needles. Your finished product will look like two socks joined together, but you'll be making a seam at the end of the toes that makes them easy to separate.
Instructions
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Run your thread around the top of the machine, hooking it around each of the latches with a cylinder needle and over the bar that pushes the latches down as it goes around, feeding thread into the machine.
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Turn the hand crank to begin weaving. As you turn, the bar will revolve around the outside of the circular machine, adding a ring of woven sock material to the product each time around. You can watch the bar push the latches down as it revolves, sinking the most recent layer so the newest one can attach from the top.
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When your sock has reached the desired length, you have two options: you can pull the sock out and sew up the toe yourself, or move it over to a ribber. The ribber is also a round machine, but when you put the unfinished sock inside it and run the incoming yarn to it, the final stitch will show up as you turn the crank.
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Tips & Warnings
Different cylinders will have a different number of latches going around the diameter. The fewer the latches, the larger the sock size.
References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
