I finished my first pair of socks and was asked to make another pair. How hard could it be to add cables, I thought. And make them a bit bigger? Use a different yarn?
I decided to do some research. Little did I know what a can of worms I was about to open. I began doubting what I thought Ithought I knew. So, I instead of a kol, this is a write along – wol.
Part One – TOE AND FOOT
To be continued
| Blue Ridge Yarns – Footprints | 2 ply superwash merino | |||||||
| My gauge. | 7 sts. to inch | |||||||
| The cicumference of his foot | 9 inches | |||||||
| Multiply gauge by measurement = 63 | ||||||||
| Calculate 10% and 15% = 6.3 and 9.45 | ||||||||
| Subtract answer to find range of stitches for sock foot = 56.7 to 53.55 | ||||||||
| This number is an estimate of how many stitches I’ll need for the circumference of the foot. The beauty of a toe-up sock is that you can try it on. The sock should be just a bit snug. I wanted to calculate the number of stitches I’d need on the needles for these socks because they will have a cable pattern with a repeat of 6 + 2. | ||||||||
| TOE AND FOOT Some patterns recommend casting on about 1/2 the number of stitches required for the foot. In this case it would be between 28 & 26 stitches. Other patterns begin by casting on 14 stitches instead. I chose this method and liked that the toe starts out very narrow because it has less bulk. | ||||||||
| I like to use a figure- 8 or Turkish cast on. I also like double pointed needles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0jdVx6qIJA | ||||||||
| Knit across each row once. | ||||||||
| On next row, round 3, divide work onto 3 double-pointed needles: | ||||||||
| Round 3 | n1 ( holds stitches for top of foot from big toe to little toe) knit across 13 sts. | |||||||
| n2 ( holds 1/2 stitches for sole – from little toe to midway) knit across 7 sts. | ||||||||
| n3 ( holds 1/2 stitches for sole – from midway back to big toe) knit across remaining 6 sts. | ||||||||
| Hook on a marker between 1st and last stitch as a reminder of where round begins. | ||||||||
| Round 4 and every EVEN round, increase as written. Now there are lots of ways to make one or increase, but I like a bar increase as it makes a nice tidy eyelet. | ||||||||
| I recommend checking out Annie Modesitt for lots of info about increases. | n1 | k1, increase 1 knit across top of foot to 2nd to last stitch on needle, increase 1 , k1. | ||||||
| n2 | k1, increase 1 , knit end | |||||||
| n3 | k across sole to 2nd to the last stitch on needle, increase 1 , k1. | |||||||
| Continue increasing until the toe wedge fits snugly and neatly around the toes. If it does, the toe is complete. If not ,then do another round of increases or fudge the number of increases until there are the number of stitches necessary to compete the pattern.** | ||||||||
| At this point, you might change the yarn color or begin pattern. | This sock was worked on 26 stitches for the instep and 27 on the sole. | |||||||
| **If the pattern repeat you want for the sock is not be divisible by the number of stitches on n1, choose the number of stitches you’ll need. For example, a cable based on a p2 k4 rib, would need a multiple of 6 + 2 stitches to complete the repeat. If there are 26 stitches across the top of the foot ( needle 1) , then there would be 4 repeats with 2 stitches left over. Perfect! But, if there were 28 stitches planned for the top of the foot, then there are 4 repeats, with 4 left over and this doesn’t work as elegantly. The number of increases needs to be adjusted. Possible solutions would be to skip the last 2 increases only on the top of the foot or to continue increase rounds until there are 32 stitches on needle 1.Continue rounds in stockinette stitch on needles 2 and 3 and begin pattern on needle 1 as follows:Pattern
row 1: *p2, k4*repeat 4x, end p2 row 2: *p2, k4*repeat 4x, end p2 row 3: *p2, k4*repeat 4x, end p2 row 4: *p2, cable 4, repeat 4x, end p2 Repeat these 4 rows on n1 and stockinette stitch on n2 and n3 until work measures about 3 inches. To Be Continued – The heel. |
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