Your Basic Sock

Finally, an actual knitting project on our knitting weblog. Many of us are digital camera impaired, which inhibits the internet sharing of our work. My camera has died, but I got Erik to let me use his camera to take a picture of the sock I just finished knitting for Vigo.



I knit these on US1 double-pointed needles with Fortissima Colori 9070 sock yarn, which I bought at the Knitting Room in Arlington. The Self-patterning yarn is slightly cheaper online (minus shipping), but at the yarn shop they have little sample socks knitted up so you can see the colors and patterns really well. One skein of yarn was enough for one pair of socks for Vigo. I plan to use two skeins to knit socks for Erik.

Knitting socks is very enjoyable. When I got to turning the heel, I was so excited about it that I stayed up until about 1:30 in the morning knitting, and watching this incredible movie called The Happiness of the Katakuris.

(I can't describe this movie in any interesting way, but I very highly reccomend watching it. Especially the opening claymation insanity.)

I found a recipe for this sock on Woolworks. It is much easier to do than it is to understand by reading it. Just follow the instructions step by step and it all comes out like magic. Easy sneazy. Click on "continue reading" to see the sock recipe.

Generic No-Frills Sock Recipe
Here is a basic pattern for socks, made on double-pointed needles, using
whatever size yarn and needles you feel like using. This makes socks that are fairly short, so there is no need to shape the calf.
Getting Started
You need a few measurements from the target (the potential sock-wearer). Measure the length of the foot and the approximate circumference of the ankle -- maybe an inch or two above the slenderest area.
Take your desired yarn. Worsted weight or bulky yarn makes thick socks; use sports weight to fingering weight for thinner socks.
Make a swatch to determine your gauge. Try a few different sizes of needles, because sometimes the yarn looks best knit at a different gauge. Usually, the thicker yarns end up at 3-6 stitches/inch, while the thinner ones look better at about 6-10 stitches/inch. You don't need an exact gauge--you can often be off by up to plus or minus half a stitch per inch without making too much difference in the size and fit of the final product.
If you knit loosely and can't get a tight enough gauge, you can always make the sock too big and full it (ie shrink it) after it's done. You might want to try this on a swatch to see how much shrinking will occur. You can also use two strands of yarn to make a thicker sock.
Measure around the ankle and subtract one inch. Cast on enough stitches to go the circumferance of the ankle minus one inch.
Another method I've seen is "measure around the ball of your foot, and subtract 10%." For adults, this usually turns out to be just about "ankle minus one inch."
I've also simply used ankle circumference, with no adjustments. This seems to work fine, especially with a few inches of ribbing at the top. I've only done this with wool, so I don't know how it would work with cotton or other materials. I'm more likely to use this measurement if I think the socks might shrink a bit.
Another thing to be on the lookout for is the yarn thickness. A thicker yarn is more likely to be close to "ankle circumference," while a thin yarn is more likely to be "ankle minus X."
Cast On and Knit the Calf
Cast on loosely onto double-pointed needles (dpns).
Join, and knit a ribbing for an inch or two. (Use your favorite rib - k1p1, k2p1, k2p2-- it doesn't really matter.)
Then, switch to stockinette stitch (or your pattern stitch) and knit until the top of the sock is long enough (usually from 4-8 inches long).
Divide for the Heel
Now, divide for the heel. Half of the stitches (the instep) are left on the dpns or put on a holder. The other half go on another needle, and will become the heel. Unless it's important for your particular pattern (cables, symmetric patterns, etc.), it doesn't matter which half of the stitches becomes the heel and which the instep.
Put the heel stitches on one needle. Knit back and forth on the needles in stockinette stitch (k 1 row, p 1 row) until you end up with more or less a square. End the heel with a purl row.
Turn the Heel
Purl to the middle of the row. (If you have an odd number of stitches, purl the middle stitch, too.)
Then, p1, p2tog, p1, and turn.
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k1, SSK, K1, and turn.
Slip 1, P back to the middle, p2, p2tog, p1, turn.
(You should be doing the p2tog across the gap created by the slipped stitch.)
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k2, SSK, k1, turn. (SSK across the gap.)
Slip 1, p back to the middle, p3, p2tog, p1, turn.
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k3, SSK, k1, turn.
And so on, until you reach the edge of the heel. If you haven't finished with a purl row, then turn your work and knit across.
(The Secret Heel-Turning Formula
What you are doing in heel-turning is the following:
(a) you are setting up two decrease points, which are spaced equally far from the middle of the sock heel.
(b) once the decrease points are set up, you simply decrease across the gaps. After the first set of decreases, careful stitch-counting isn't really necessary.)
Pick up Stitches on the Sides of the Heel
Pick up stitches on the side of the heel -- 1 stitch for every 2 rows.
Knit across the instep stitches that you set aside earlier.
Pick up more stitches on the other side of the heel (the same as on the first side of the heel).
Knit one row around in order to get things moving again.
(I often pick up an extra stitch in each corner of the instep, to help prevent a hole from forming there.)
Getting Ready to Knit the Foot
Re-arrange stitches on your dpns
The round now begins in the middle of the heel, and instep stitches should be kept on their own needle(s): 1 needle if using 4 dpns, 2 needles if using 5 dpns.
Knit the Gusset and Foot
Now, decrease away the extra stitches.
Round 1:
Starting from the middle of the heel, k all the way up the side of the heel and K2tog the last two stitches at the side of the heel.
Knit across the instep needle(s).
SSK the first two stitches on the other heel needle and finish
knitting the round.
Round 2:
Knit the next row around.
Repeat these two rounds until you're back to the number of stitches you started the sock with.
For kids' socks, skip round two and decrease every round, to make a shorter gusset. The sock will fit more snugly that way.
The Toe
Knit the foot of the sock until it's about two inches less than the final length of the foot. Then, decrease for the toe.
Starting from the middle of the heel (or bottom of the foot, at this point):
Round 1:
First needle: K until the last 3 stitches on the needle, K2tog, K1;
Instep needle(s): K1, SSK, K until the last 3 stitches on the instep, K2tog, K1;
Last needle: K1, SSK, K to the end.
Round 2: knit evenly around
If you think this toe is a little too pointy, here is a slight variation:
Knit the foot of the sock until it's a bit less than two inches less than the final length of the foot. Then, decrease just like above. When you're down to about half the original number of stitches, decrease every round instead of every other round.
Grafting the Toe
When you're down to the last inch or so of stitches on each side of the foot (usually 4-8 on each side of the foot or 8-16 total stitches), break off sufficient yarn and graft the remaining stitches.
If you can't stand grafting, you could finish the sock like a hat. Continue the toe decreases until only 6-8 stitches remain. Break off sufficient yarn and run it twice through the stitches, pulling it snug.
For those of you who like to understand percentages and proportions:
The heel is done on half the stitches.
About half (or half plus a few) of the heel stitches will remain after turning the heel. Heel-turning decreases are symmetric around the middle stitch(es) of the heel.
The number of stitches picked up on each side of the heel should be about one half of the number of heel stitches (i.e. - one quarter the original number of stitches, picked up at each side).
At this point, you have about 1.25 times the original number of stitches you started with (plus maybe a few more).
Decrease the sock back to the original number of stitches for the foot.
The toe decreases start about 2" from the end. You'll need to use your row gauge and your toe-decrease plan to figure out when to start toe decreases if your sock is very large or very small.
Happy knitting!
--jp
jpa@agora.rdrop.com