Training Socks

Lots of you have commented that you'd like to learn to knit socks.  I can't tell you how many false starts I had with my own attempts at sock knitting. I'd spent months reading books and the posts on a very prolific sock knitting group and it was all completely overwhelming. What finally worked for me was to knit a baby sock from a random pattern I found online.

I have no idea what pattern this is. About all that I do know for sure is that I finished the cuff when I was in labor and delivery being monitored for contractions. I didn't have enough yarn for a second sock, but that wasn't the point. This was practice.

In the past, my recommendation has been to try the Super Quick Baby Socks pattern. But I think I've found something better.

Kate Atherly has written a set of free patterns for "training socks" and they walk you through all of the parts of a sock. Apparently, these have been around for a while, but I just stumbled across them last week.

Training Sock - Toe Up, DPNs 
Training Sock - Top Down, DPNs
Training Sock - Toe Up, Magic Loop/2 Circulars
Training Sock - Top Down, Magic Loop/2 Circulars

These aren't full size socks, they're just practice. You make a sock that's big enough to have all of the parts, but no so big that you'll feel bad if you make a mistake and have to start over.  Assuming that you've already got some worsted weight yarn and the needles, what have you got to lose by casting on a pair?