I'm so slow at knitting socks, but love it anyway. They're the perfect travel project so I've usually got a pair on the go in my little drawstring bag and have got myself into all kinds of conversations with strangers in public as a result.
The ones pictured you might recognise as "Hermione's Everyday Socks", and they were technically the third pair I ever made but the first two were awful and we're not counting those. First proper socks, hurrah!
The yarn was a weird cone of nonsense that I'd picked up from a shop called Yarnia in Portland during a big month-long USA road trip we went on in 2015. Basically you chose your fibres and colours and they'd wind a cone of yarn to that specification.
Or, if you're a wimp like me, you could just buy a pre-wound cone and trust it had the right stuff in it for socks which is exactly what I did.
These babies lasted me until late last year then started to wear through on the ball of the foot, I've kept them safe and can hopefully learn to repair them. Any advice in that area would be very welcome!
You can also use a small bowl, or an orange, or just about anything, really.