Tuesday 12 July 2011

Flower Power Socks...

Flower Power is a beautiful 4 ply sock wool that I bought from The Knitting Goddess recently.


Hand dyed in colourway Flower Power.  Beautiful rich colours of pinks, magenta, greens, turquoise and mauve.  Gorgeous colours.


The 4 ply sock yarn is very soft and silky to the touch.  50% superwash merino and 50% tencel yarn (100g/333m).  I haven't knit with tencel before but my sister says it is very comfortable for socks.


The skein looked beautiful when it arrived


The yarn knits with a spiral pattern emerging so I decided that I would knit these with an afterthought heel.  I am deciding which to use at the moment.


I know that I will use the round toe for these socks as I like wearing them so much.  I did read about a round toe for the heel but I don't think it would be comfortable if the last 8 stitches were gathered but I think it would be more comfortable to kitchener stitch the last stitches.  Thinking about this at the moment.


The royal blue line is the waste wool that I have put in to show where the afterthought heel will be worked.


I finished these socks a few months ago and never actually photographed them at that time.  So I thought I'd photograph them now.  They have been worn and washed many times.  The yarn has, I think stood up well to general wear.  The after thought heels are comfortable although I do prefer wearing socks with a traditional heel flap.  But these socks were quick and easy to knit.


As I would have expected, the colour has faded a little, over time with washing.  But I think, if anything, they are even prettier than they were when they were first made.  I rather like the colours as they have softened.



Sunday 10 July 2011

Basic Sock Pattern 1

This is one of my basic sock knitting patterns, it has a heel flap and turned heel, gusset and a round toe.  Very comfortable to wear.  I find that it works well with a plain yarn, or a self striping yarn.


Materials:

100 g of 4 ply sock yarn
2.75mm set of 5 double pointed needles (dpn's)
3.25mm double pointed needle for casting on
tapestry needle

Abbreviations:  

k - knit;  p - purl;  ssk - slip, slip, knit;  p2tog - purl 2 sts together;  sl 1 - slip 1 stitch;  st - stitch; 

Cuff and Leg

Cast on 60 sts using the 3.25mm needle.  (I always use a larger needle to cast on).
On the first row using 2.75mm needles, divide over 4 needles, 15 sts on each.  Join into a circle, being careful not to twist the stitches.
Work 14 rounds of k1, p1 rib.
K 42 rounds (or as long as you want your sock to be).

Heel Flap

Preparation - place the sts from needles 1 and 2 onto one needle (30 sts) then, 

Row 1:  k2, (sl 1, p1, across to last two sts), k2, turn
Row 2:  k, turn

Rep these two rows a total of 16 times (32 rows)

Turn Heel:

Row 1:  p17, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 2:  sl 1, k5, ssk, k1, turn
Row 3:  sl 1, p6, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 4:  sl 1, k7, ssk, k1, turn
Row 5:  sl 1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 6:  sl 1, k9, ssk, k1, turn
Row 7:  sl 1, p10, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 8:  sl 1, k11, ssk, k1, turn
Row 9:  sl 1, p12, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 10:  sl 1, k13, ssk, k1, turn
Row 11:  sl 1, p14, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 12:  k16, ssk, k1  (18 sts)

Instep:

Pick up and knit 17 sts along side of heel flap, k30 sts across the top of the sock (needles 2 and 3), pick up  and knit 17 sts along side of heel flap, then k9 across sole (bottom of sock).  

(Needle 1:  26 sts, Needle 2:  15 sts, Needle 3:  15 sts, Needle 4:  26 sts)

K 2 rounds (starting and ending at the centre bottom of sock).  On the first round k into back of each of the 17 picked up and knitted sts as this creates a twist in the st and stops any little gaps forming).

Gusset Decreases:

Round 1:  k to 3 sts before end of needle 1, k2tog, k 1, k30 sts across needles 2 & 3, k1, ssk, k to end of needle 4.
Round 2:  k

Rep these rounds until there are 15 sts on each needle.

Foot:

(For UK size 5 or 6, European size 38 or 39)

Work 42 rounds.

Round Toe:  Evenly spread decreases during the decrease round.

Round 1:  k4, (k2tog, k5) 8 times.
K 2 rounds
Round 4:  k4, (k2tog, k4) 8 times.
K 2 rounds
Round 7:  k4, (k2tog, k3) 8 times.
K 2 rounds
Round 10:  (k2, k2tog) 9 times
K 2 rounds
Round 13:  (k1, k2tog) 9 times
K 1 round
Round 15:  k2tog to end (9 sts)

Finishing:
Cut yarn, leaving a 12" (30 cm) tail.  Thread the tail onto the tapestry needle and draw it through the remaining sts.  Tighten and fasten off.  Weave in ends.



Saturday 9 July 2011

Heather Socks...

This gorgeous sock yarn is hand dyed in the Heather colourway by The Knitting Goddess...  I really like the shades of purple and the mint and sage green.  These colours work well together.


It is very soft to the touch.  a 4ply sock yarn in 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon.  (100g/425m).


I bought this from a lady who was selling part of her personal sock wool collection on Ravelry.  


I knit this pair of socks at the same time on two sets of dpn's.  It is my favourite sock pattern.  I find all the elements very comfortable to wear.  A basic ribbed cuff, followed by 40 rounds of stocking stitch, then turning the heel, working the gusset and...


Finishing with a round toe.  I find that this style of toe with even decreases every third round is very comfortable to wear.


I am really looking forward to wearing these socks as they feel so very soft to the touch.  I opted for the plain pattern because the yarn has such a rich colour palette and fine stripes I felt that patterning would be lost.


I love using bamboo dpn's.  I used to get severe pain in my wrists and thumb joints when I was doing a lot of knitting and I find that using the bamboo needles really helps to stop this happening.

I finished knitting these socks surprisingly quickly.  Decided I just couldn't wait to start wearing them, then of course, I bought a great pair of Birkenstock sandals for the summer weather (yep, the first day I wore them, the rain pelted down on me and I really wished I was wearing shoes and cosy hand knit socks).  


But I do think that it will be nice to have a few new pairs of socks for the autumn.