"Tiny Trends" has 11 sock patterns and one leg-warmers pattern for kids.
"Tiny Trends" is the first book of kid's sock patterns I have ever seen. I'm not saying there aren't other books out there with socks that fit children, but this is the first book I've found that actually focuses solely on children's feet.
If you are a parent or grandparent, this book has obvious appeal. But I think this book also would be good for young knitters. The first two patterns are basic top-down and toe-up socks in stockinette with ribbed cuffs, something a young knitter could tackle after knitting some scarves and hats. When I was a young kid, I used sock yarn to make doll's dresses in the round on double-point needles. These socks wouldn't be any harder than that.
These Pied Piper socks have some ribbing to make knitting them a little more interesting.
After a child (or an adult) masters one of the basic patterns, there are other patterns that aren't much more complicated than those: Pied Piper, Banbury Cross and Full of Rye are all good choices for basic socks. The sizing is given in both American and European measurents. There are 12 patterns in the book, and some of them are more like slippers. One project is actually leg warmers. You can see pictures of all the projects by clicking on that last link.
Joeli Caparco, the author, is a mother of two boys, and she understands how moms would resist making socks for children that would have to be handwashed. She said she gets her boys involved in hand-washing socks. Caparco did choose a lot of superwash yarn for the book, so don't let the idea of handwashing socks intimidate you. As I think back on my son's younger life, I am not sure he'd be willing to hand-wash anything. Even though he learned to use the washing machine at an early age and has done his own laundry since he was about 9 years old, I think he would've said "no" to hand-washing socks. But I probably would have chosen acrylic yarns for him,
The Basic Toe-Up socks are shown with very low cuffs, almost as though they are slippers.
Carparco is a tech editor for Cooperative Press, and she has published her designs in Knitty, Petite Purls and Knit Now. Her website, www.Joeliskitchen.com, includes her designs and her blog, as well as information about her services as a tech editor.
This book, which is published by Cooperative Press, is lightweight and portable — the kind of book that fits well into a project bag and goes anywhere. At $22.95, though, it seems a little expensive. You can save $6 by buying the PDF version instead.
I'm not the mother of a young child anymore, but I do think this is a cute, practical book. And if you are a sock-addict, this is a book you ought to have in your library, just so you have some good patterns when you need to knit a pair of socks for a child.
All photos in this review are used with permission and are copyrighted by Cooperative Press.
