I bought 5 balls of Wool and the Gang sock yarn. It meant postage was free. It came with a pattern and three sets of double pointed needles (2.25mm, 2.5mm and 2.75mm).
For this first pair I followed the pattern exactly (and I must say it was an easy to follow pattern), but for the next pair I will make a few alterations – the foot is too long and that is because I made the toe too big (next time I will just do my normal toe). Also, I have become a magic loop convert and will knit the next pair the magic loop way.
I do like the after-thought heel – although I did get a hole at the corner where the foot meets the leg (I closed it up with spare yarn so you can’t see it in the photo). I will do some research to see how that can be avoided for the next pair.
These are my May socks, so I am ahead of schedule. I am going to work on my Hansel shawl and when I need something easy I will knit wash cloths.