Swaying Socks

I was buying something completely unrelated a few months ago on Amazon, and happened to see some yarn in the corner of the screen, because the Internet knows my weaknesses.  I was easily swayed and somehow it ended up in my shopping cart.  Flash forward to a few days ago, when I was puttering around at home, wanting to knit but unenthusiastic about WIPs.  I pulled this yarn out of the cabinet and starting sketching out some charts on the back of the grocery list.

The sock is knit from the top down with a ribbed cuff and a heel flap construction.  The fabric will stretch to accommodate various sizes, but sizing can also be adjusted by increasing or decreasing stitch count in multiples of 8.

Materials

Needles: Set doublepointed needles, size 1.5 (or size needed to obtain gauge)

Tapestry needle

Yarn: 350-400 yards sock/fingering weight yarn. Sample pair was knitted with Patons Kroy Stripes (50g, 166 yards per skein - 2 skeins)

Gauge: 8 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch

Size: Women’s medium

Abbreviations:

K - knit

P - purl

ssk - slip, slip, knit slipped stitches together

K2tog - knit two together

yo - yarn over

* - repeat between * until indicated otherwise

Cuff

Using long tail cast on, cast on 64 stitches. Join to work in the round, taking care not to twist stitches. Tail from cast on will serve as a marker for the beginning of the round.

Cuff round:  *P1,K2,P1* to end of round.  Work 12 cuff rounds or to desired cuff length.

Leg

Round 1 and all odd rounds: *P1, K6, P1* to end of round

Round 2: *P1, ssk, K4, yo, P1* to end of round

Round 4: *P1, K1, ssk, K3, yo, P1* to end of round
Round 6: *P1, K2, ssk, K2, yo, P1* to end of round

Round 8: *P1, K3, ssk, K1, yo, P1* to end of round
Round 10: *P1, yo, K4, K2tog, P1* to end of round

Round 12: *P1, yo, K3, K2tog, P1* to end of round
Round 14: *P1, yo, K2, K2tog, P1* to end of round
Round 16: *P1, yo, K1, K2tog, P1* to end of round

Work leg pattern  to desired length of leg, ending with an odd row of the pattern.

Heel

Heel flap is worked back and forth on the 32 stitches in the last half of the round. The stitches on the first and second needles form the instep and will rest while the heel is fashioned.

Turn the work to begin working the heel on the wrong side. 

Row 1 (WS): Slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front, purl to end of row

Row 2 (RS): *Slip 1 purlwise with yarn in back, K1*, repeat to end of row

Repeat these two rows 15 times. Repeat Row 1 once more.

Heel turn begins on the right side of the work and incorporates short rows to form the three-dimensional heel.

Row 1 (RS): Slip 1, K16, ssk, K1, turn.

Row 2 (WS): Slip 1, P3, P2tog, P1, turn.

Note the gap that is evident between the unworked stitches on the needle and the last worked stitch in the short rows.

Row 3 (RS): Slip 1, K to one stitch before the gap, ssk, K1, turn.

Row 4 (WS): Slip 1, P to one stitch before the gap, p2tog, p1, turn.

Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until all heel stitches have been worked. Knit across heel stitches.

Gusset and Foot

Rearrange stitches as follows. Slip half of the heel stitches (Needle 1) to a free needle (Needle 3). Slip instep stitches on to a single needle (Needle 2). Needle 2 now has 32 stitches. 

Beginning with Needle 1, which has half of the heel stitches, pick up 16 stitches along the heel flap. Work across Needle 2 in next row of leg pattern. With a free needle, pick up 16 stitches along the heel flap and knit across the remaining heel stitches.

Needle 1 now holds half of the foot stitches, Needle 2 has the instep stitches, and Needle 3 holds the other half of the foot stitches. Beginning of round is at center bottom of foot.

Gusset Round 1: Knit to last three stitches on Needle 1, K2tog, K1. Work across Needle 2 in established pattern. On Needle 3, K1, ssk, knit to end of round.

Gusset Round 2: Knit Needle 1. Work across Needle 2 in established pattern. Knit Needle 3.

Repeat these two rounds until there are 64 stitches remaining.

Work even on Needles 1 and 3, maintaining established pattern on Needle 2, until foot is 1.75 inches shorter than desired length, ending with an odd row of the pattern.

Toe

Toe Round 1: Knit to last three stitches on Needle 1, K2tog, K1. K1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches on Needle 2, K2tog, K1. K1, ssk, knit to end of Needle 3.

Toe Round 2: Work even.

Repeat these two rounds until there are 32 stitches remaining. Repeat first round until there are 16 stitches remaining. Knit stitches on Needle 1 to bring yarn to side of toe for finishing.

Finishing

Slip stitches from Needle 3 to Needle 1. Use kitchener stitch to join toe stitches together. Break yarn. Weave in ends.

Variation
If desired, work first sock beginning at round 1 of pattern and second sock beginning with round 9 of pattern.  All other instructions remain the same.