My perfect sock pattern:
- is toe up
- doesn't sacrifice good looks for easy of knitting
- can be done with any combination of needles/yarns I choose
- can be easily adjusted for my tiny feet or my daughter's chunky feet.
- has heel flaps (instead of short-row heels)
- doesn't require me to count rows--because I do it badly
- can be done with minimal supplies in a large meeting without disturbing the speaker or those sitting next to me.
So I designed my own--a mix of many others I found that were brilliant in their own right, but not perfect for my picky world. The foot and leg are easy. The cuff is pretty easy too. The tricky parts are the toe and the heel.
Provisional cast-on toes look nice, but don't fit my requirements because they require too much stuff and focused attention to do in a meeting. So I learned to do a turkish cast on as I detailed in an earlier post. Using EZ loop increases, I can read my knitting well enough to know if I should increase this row or just knit--even when I'm sitting in a dark theater.
The heel is a bit more problematic. Picking up stitches violates my last rule of the perfect sock pattern. Picking up stitches can't be done in a large meeting without disturbing anyone. Maybe you can do it, but I always end up cursing loudly. When I found the Widdershins pattern, I thought I was home free. The Widdershin heel is a thing of beauty.
One problem. Every time I knit it, I had to go back to the web, print out the pattern instructions, go to Squeaky's web site, print out her notes--and don't even ask what I had to do when I wanted to use a different number of stitches. But the heel--perfect.
So I decided to re-write her instructions. This is not to say there is anything wrong with her instructions. The instructions in the published pattern are very clear. The revised instructions she published in her blog are also very clear and easy to follow. I just rewrote them in a way that works for me. The biggest differences: I use markers so I don't have to count. I use a different kind of short row technique I learned in Latvian Dreams--you use a yarn over rather than wrapping the stitch. I find the yarn over technique is easier to resolve on the next row when you're knitting in the round.
The most important thing I did was create a chart for all the different stitch counts.
So here's an excerpt from my basic sock worksheet for the Widdershin heel, with a respectful nod to the original author. One note: I knit socks Magic Loop so the "stitches per needle" is half the total number of stitches.
CALCULATIONS
B Stitches per Needle: ___________________
C Gussets Increase To: (from chart) ___________________
D Gusset Yarn Marker at: (from chart) ___________________
E End of Heel Yarn Marker at: (from chart) ___________________
F Heel Turn Markers: (from chart) ___________________
Gusset Increases
Sole Needle: K1, M1L, knit until 1 stitch remains, M1R, K1.
Top Needle: Knit even.
*Sole Needle: Knit even. Top Needle: Knit even.
Sole Needle: K1, M1L, knit until 1 stitch remains, M1R, K1.
Top Needle: Knit even.
Repeat from * until you have _____ (C) stitches on the sole needle.
Sole Needle: Place markers as follows
Knit _____ (D) stitches, place a YARN marker.
Knit _____ (E) stitches, place a second YARN marker.
Knit remaining _____ (D) stitches.
Top Needle: Knit even across all _____ (B) stitches.
Turn the Heel
Sole Needle:
*Knit until 2 stitches before second yarn marker. Increase 1, K1, turn work.
Yarn over from front to back on right needle. Place marker.
Purl until 2 stitches before marker. Increase 1, P1, turn work.
Yarn over from back to front on right needle. Place marker.
Repeat from * until you have placed _____ (F) markers. (Don’t include the yarn markers.)
Still on the sole needle:
*Knit to marker. Remove marker. K2tog.
Repeat from * until you reach the yarn marker. Knit remaining stitches.
Top Needle:
Knit across all stitches.
Sole Needle:
Knit to yarn marker.
*K2tog. Remove the stitch marker.
Repeat from * until you have removed all but the two yarn markers.
You are somewhere in the middle of the sole needle and there are now _____ (B) heel stitches between the two yarn markers and _____ (D) gusset stitches on either side of the yarn markers.
Heel Flap
Sole Needle (starting in the middle):
Knit to 1 stitch before yarn marker. SSK. Turn work. Flip yarn marker between needles.
Row 1: Sl1, purl until 1 stitch remains before yarn marker, p2tog, turn, flip yarn marker between needles.
Row 2: *Slip 1, K1. Repeat from * until 1 stitch remains, SSK, Turn work, flip yarn marker between needles.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you have no remaining gusset stitches on the left side. (You’ll still have one gusset stitch remaining on the right side.)
Top Needle: Knit across all stitches.
Sole Needle: k2tog, Knit across all stitches.
You now have _____ (B) stitches on each needle and are ready to do your leg.
K2Karen's Basic Sock Chart Numbers for the Widdershin-style heel
B Stitches | C | D Gusset Marker | E Heel Marker | F Heel Turn Markers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 4 |
16 | 28 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
17 | 31 | 9 | 13 | 4 |
18 | 30 | 9 | 12 | 6 |
19 | 33 | 10 | 13 | 6 |
20 | 34 | 10 | 14 | 6 |
21 | 37 | 11 | 15 | 6 |
22 | 38 | 11 | 16 | 6 |
23 | 41 | 12 | 17 | 6 |
24 | 42 | 12 | 18 | 6 |
25 | 45 | 13 | 19 | 6 |
26 | 46 | 13 | 20 | 6 |
27 | 47 | 14 | 19 | 8 |
28 | 48 | 14 | 20 | 8 |
29 | 51 | 15 | 21 | 8 |
30 | 52 | 15 | 22 | 8 |
31 | 55 | 16 | 23 | 8 |
32 | 56 | 16 | 24 | 8 |
33 | 59 | 17 | 25 | 8 |
34 | 60 | 17 | 26 | 8 |
35 | 63 | 18 | 27 | 8 |
36 | 62 | 18 | 26 | 10 |
37 | 65 | 19 | 27 | 10 |
38 | 66 | 19 | 28 | 10 |
39 | 69 | 20 | 29 | 10 |
