2 1/2 Socks and Pattern

Last night I completed sock number two of this pair.

 Just before midnight I threaded a tapestry needle and wove in the ends. It felt like I had been working on these almost forever! That may be because I actually made 2 1/2 socks instead of just two. I was halfway through sock number one--just completing the heel turn--when I paid enough attention to realize that I was a stitch short. Upon closer examination I found a dropped stitch back on the heel flap. After bungling the attempt at fixing this, I reluctantly decided that I needed to rip the whole thing out, so frogging followed! Too bad I did not notice it earlier, but as I worked on these mostly late at night in a dark room with just a headlamp on, I suppose it is not a surprise that it went unnoticed. Ah well, it was enjoyable knitting and I just got to do more of it :-)

The design is my own--I went through my stitch dictionary and came across Irish Net stitch. It was for a different stitch count that the 34 I needed and it was written to be worked flat, so I adapted it to be worked over 34 stitches in the round. I used the star toe because I like that best, but you could also do a "regular" toe and kitchener at the end. Here is the detail.

The sock yarn is a blend of cotton,wool, and nylon. It worked up well in this stitch pattern and I am done just in time, since summer has come back.

Here is how I made them.

Irish Net Knit Sock
This is the stitch pattern I used for the instep:
Rnd 1: k2, *yo, sl1, k2, psso both k sts* rep from * to * until you have 2 sts left, then k2
Rnd 2: knit
Rnd 3: k2, * sl1, k2, psso, yo* rep between * until you have 2 sts left on needle, then k2
Rnd 4: knit
rep these 4 for pattern

Here is the sock pattern as I made it. I always use 4 dpns because that is the method I like best, but use magic loop or 2 circs if you prefer. I used size 1 needles and less than a 427 yard skein of sock yarn. If you wear out heels and/or toes quickly, you can change to size 0 dpns after the cuff.

CO 68 stitches and divide onto 3 needles (I did 24, 24, and 20). Join, being careful not to twist stitches.

Knit one round.

Work in k2, p2 rib until cuff is as long as you want it.

Divide for heel:
--k 34 sts onto one needle.
--k 17 on next needle
-- k17 onto next needle (these two last needles are your instep stitches)


Heel flap:
Working back and forth on needle with 34 sts, (sl 1, k1) across, turn
--sl1, then purl remaining sts across, turn
-- (sl 1, k1) across, turn
--sl 1, purl remaining sts across, turn
Repeat previous 2 rows until you have completed 34 rows, ending with a purl row. Turn.

Turn the heel:
--sl 1, k18, ssk, k1, turn
--sl 1, p 5, p2tog, p1, turn
--sl1, k to within one st of gap, ssk over gap, k1, turn
--sl 1, p to within one st of gap, p2tog over gap, p1, turn
Repeat previous 2 rows until you have 20 sts remaining on needle.

Combine instep stitches onto one needle.

--K 10 stitches from heel flap onto one needle.
--K remaining 10 heel flap stitches onto another needle and then on same needle, pick up 17 stitches along side of heel flap.
--On instep sts, begin working lace pattern above
--With empty needle, pick up 17 sts along other side of heel flap, then on same needle, k the 10 stitches off the last needle.

Now you will decrease only on the two needles with the picked up stitches and work even on the instep.
First round:
First needle: k all sts
Second needle: lace pattern above
Third needle: k all sts
Second round:
First needle: k all sts to within 3 of end, k2tog, k last st
Second needle: lace pattern above
Third needle: k1, ssk, k remaining sts

Repeat these two rounds until you are back to the original 68 sts, with 17 sts on needles 1 and 3 and 34 instep sts on needle 2. It can require a bit of attention to remember where you are on both the gusset stitches and the lace pattern at the same time. I found it helpful to remember that when I was doing a knit even round on the gussets, I was also doing a plain knit on the instep needle. In other words, rnds 1 and 3 of the lace pattern always corresponded to a decrease rnd on the gussets.

Now work even until the foot is 2 inches shorter than the desired length:
Star Toe:
Knit a round and decrease two stitches in the middle of needle two and at the end of needle 3. This leaves you with 66 stitches, which is divisible by 6, so you can proceed with the star toe, in which you will be making 6 decreases every other round, as follows:
Round 1: (k9, k2tog) around
Round 2 and all even numbered rounds: k each stitch around
Round 3: (k8, k2tog) around
Round 5: (k7, k2tog) around
Round 7: (k6, k2tog) around
Round 9: (k5, k2tog) around
Round 11: (k4, k2tog) around
Round 13: (k3, k2tog) around
Round 15: (k2, k2tog) around
Round 17: (k1, k2tog) around
Round 19: (k2tog) around
 Leaving a long tail, cut yarn and thread tapestry needle. Run tail through the stitches that remain on your needle and pull closed. Weave in ends.

Share