How to Knit Vanilla Socks That Aren’t Boring

Heads up! This post contains affiliate links which means I get may get a commission if you purchase something based on my recommendations here.

The term “Vanilla Socks” in knitting refers to a very basic sock pattern that is usually just stockinette all the way. You don’t really need follow a pattern for Vanilla Socks – I don’t – but there are a ton of “recipes” for them out there if you need something to get you started. Here’s the first result that came up in my Google search, and it looks right to me.

But, let’s be honest about Vanilla Socks… aren’t they a little boring? Well, they don’t have to be! Here are three ways to add flair to your vanilla socks.

1. Choose an Interesting Yarn

Vanillas are your chance to play with your stash and use your wildest hand-painted, speckled, or self-striping yarns. Sometimes these yarns are too loud to pair with a detailed stitch pattern, but they are perfect on a canvas of stockinette stitch.

I used some interesting self-striping sock yarn for this pair called Felicini by Knit Picks. I’m a huge fan of their Felici yarn that has inch-wide stripes, but this new line has super thin stripes that piqued my curiosity! I loved knitting with this yarn because the thin stripes made it feel like I was knitting super fast! It’s the same base as Felici – it’s a fingering weight but it’s a little on the light side. I love knitting with this on US size 1 needles (2.25 mm) which gets me a gauge of 9 stitches per inch. But it also looks good on US 1.5 needles, which gets me about 8.5 stitches per inch. I don’t like the look of Felici/Felicini at any looser gauge than that.

2. Play With Contrasting Colors

I usually knit a bullseye afterthought heel when I use Felici – for reasons I explain here – but that construction wouldn’t play out well with the thin stripes of Felicini, so I decided to dive back into my stash and pick out a solid yarn to use for a contrasting heel, toe, and cuff.

Adding contrasting colored yarn is another fabulous way to dress up your Vanilla Socks. I played it safe with this pair – using a contrasting color that matched the stripes in my main color – but you can have a lot of fun if your pick a really unexpected color for your accents. (Or multiple unexpected colors!) Have fun with it.

3. Try a New Technique

Tips one and two were about making your socks look less boring, but tip three is to make knitting them less boring! It can be kind of relaxing to knit the majority of the sock while on autopilot, but consider trying a different heel technique or needle configuration.

I’m a big fan of the heel flap and gusset socks, so I mixed things up by doing short-row heels on this pair. Weird but true story: I actually did two kinds of short-row heels on this pair – one is a basic short row heel using lifted stitches and one is a Fish Lips Kiss (FLK) heel. People say the FLK heel stays on your foot better than other heels, so I decided to do a side-by-side comparison to see if that’s true. They feel kind of the same at an initial try-on, but I think I need to wear them all day as the true test. It’s way too hot for that this summer, so I’ll have to revisit the experiment in Fall.

What’s your favorite Vanilla Sock recipe? Do you like keeping them plain or do you like to make your Vanilla Socks spicy like I do?

yarn details

Knit Picks Felicini in Bowling Alley
Fingering Weight
75% Merino, 25% Nylon
437 yards / 100 grams
Machine Wash and Dry

Knit Picks Stroll in Candy Pink
Fingering Weight
75% Merino, 25% Nylon
231 yards / 50 gram
Machine Wash & Dry

project details

pattern: CO 64 stitches; cuff is 12 rounds; the first heel is made with lifted stitches, sort of based on the instructions in the Herding Cats pattern, and the second heel is the FLK heel method. (I’ve written a lot about the FLK heel, here is one post in which I sing its praises!); round toe.
needles: US Size 1 (2.25 mm) bamboo dpns – they are pretty flimsy and I was terrified they’d break while I knitted, but they were okay!
gauge: 9 stitches and 12 rows per inch
yarn used: 240 yards of Felicini (55 grams – a little over half the ball); 70 yards of the Stroll (15 grams)
finished size: the feet are actually slightly different sizes because the FLK heel is larger than the lifted stitch short row heel. I knitted the feet based on matching up the stripes, not by length. Anyway, they are about 9.25” from back of heel to tip of toe, with the FLK one slightly longer; same story with the leg, but it’s about 8” from top of cuff to bottom of heel.
duration: April – July 2024