by RedScot
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Homage (in sock form) to the unsung star of the cocktail firmament - the twist (or slice) of citrus! You'd like a slice of lemon in your G&T? Or would you prefer a garnish of orange in your Blue Lagoon? No, I know - you'd really like a twist of lime in your mint Mojito! This is an easy-to-mem orise, slightly cabled, slightly scalloped sock, knit from the toe up, with an afterthought heel and a ribbed cuff. Or, if you like, a bit of feather and fan with a twist! Needles: Set of 5 dpns size 2.25mm (US 1) Set of 5 dpns size 2mm (US 0) Yarn: A Twist of Curacao Socks: Knit Picks Felici in 'Marine Life colourway', and A Twist of Grenadine Socks: Noro Kureyon Sock yarn in colourway no. 240, although any fingering-weight yarnwill do. Other Notions: Waste yarn, stitch marker Gauge: 16 sts / 24 Rounds (st st) = 2 inches (st st) Size: Medium. (Roughly ankle 8"/9") For larger or smaller sizes, I'd recommend going up or down a needle size. Notes: The pattern works best with self-striping, long colour-change (like Noro) or semi-solids. The heel may be a little tight for some knitters, so substituting in a heel flap heel there may be preferable.
Twist of Citrus Stitch Pattern:
Round 1: knit Round 2: (yo, k1) x3, (k2tog) x6, (yo, k1) x3 Round 3: p6, k6, p6 Round 4: knit Rounds 5- 7:as rounds1 - 3 Round 8: k6, C3F, k6 Toe: Using the smaller set of ndls, cast-on 16 sts using your preferred method, (I used the figure-of-8 method) then work the following rounds: Rounds 1 - 7: kfb in the first st, knit across to the last st on the 2nd ndl, kfb, repeat on ndls 3 & 4. (I usually transfer the sts to 4 ndls on approx rnd 3 / 4.) Round 9: kfb in the first st, knit across to the last st on the 2nd ndl, kfb, repeat on ndls 3 & 4. Repeat rounds 9 & 10 until there are 68 sts. 1lA Twist of Citrus Socks RedScot Z010 - for private use only - all rights reserved Foot: Rearrange the stitches so that there are 36 stitches on ndls 1 & 2, and 32 sts on ndls 3 & 4. Start the Twist of Citrus pattern on ndls 1 & 2 (if using dpns) or for the instep (if you're using another method) and st st on ndls 3 & 4 for the sole, finishing on round 7, 112 to 2 inches before the start of the heel. Change to the larger size dpns half-way through the foot for added give nearer the heel.
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Heel Part 1: (If you feel there may be some sizing issues here, please feel free to substitute your favourite heel.) I used the peasant heel (sometimes called afterthought heel) as it is simple and nicely elegant. You can, of course, substitute your own heel choice, but for the purposes of this pattern, I'll describe the methods I used with this particular process. You can find the exact method by Jill L. Schaefer that I used here at http://www.socknitters.com/lessons/afterthoughtheels.htm. It is nice and straightforward! Continue on Round 8 of the pattern repeat on ndls 1&2 (instep) and at the change to the sole, drop the main yarn and pick up your waste yarn. Using the waste yarn, continue in st st across the sole. This line of waste yarn will be the basis for inserting the afterthought heel once the rest of the sock is finished. Once this half round has been knit, cut the waste yarn leaving a short tail and go back to the beginning of the sole. Pick up the main yarn again, continue with the sole sts of Round 8 and then onto the leg part of the sock. Leg: Place the stitch marker at the beginning of the round (if you have not already been using it) and continue with the Twist of Citrus pattern on all needles to your preferred length of leg. To make the heel pickup easier, you can leave the 1st 4 rounds on ndls 3 & 4 (just above the heel insert) in st st and pick up on round 5 with the front of the sock. Cuff: Change to the smaller size dpns again and work 112 to 2 inches of 2x2 ribbing. Cast off. If you like a little extra stretchiness in the edge, try the picot cast-off (I used this on the Curacao version): cast-off 2 sts\* sl st from RH ndl to LH ndl, cast-on 2 sts, cast-off 4 sts; rep from \*. I used the cable cast-on method for the 2 added sts.
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Heel Part 2: Now that the sock tube has been finished, it's time to go back to finish the afterthought heel. Using a dpn, find the end of the scrap yarn and start pulling it out from the surrounding sts, making sure that the sts are already placed on one of 2 dpns before it is rem oved completely. After transferring the sts you should find that both needles have 36 sts each. Attach the main yarn then knit across the first ndl, taking care to pick up a couple more sts at each end to insure against holes. oss the second ndl, picking up the same number of sts there as you did for the first side.
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Divide the sts over 3 ndls to begin decreasing. For example, for my configuration, I put 18 sts on the first 2 ndls and left the final 36 on the last ndl. Round 1: ndl 1: skp, k to end; ndl 2: k to last 2 sts, k2tog; ndl 2: skp, k to last 2 sts, k2tog; ndl 3: skp, k to last 2 sts, k2tog. Round 2: knit (if you have an extra odd st, use a decrease in this round to equalise the sts - for exam ple, here I knit the first 2 ndls and then k1, skp and k to the end of the third ndl.) Repeat these 2 rounds until you've reached the desired width of heel. I stopped at 28 sts total. Sl sts from ndl 1 to ndl 2, leaving 2 ndls and graft the sts from both ndls together using kitchener st. Weave in ends. VOILA! U can haz sok. 2lA Twist of Citrus Socks @ RedScot zo1o - for private use only - all rights reserved
Twist of Citrus chart:
1 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
0 | 0 | 0 | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
/ | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
0 | 0 | 0 | A | A | A | A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||
1 |
o | knit |
purl | |
yarnover | |
k2together C3F |
Abbreviations:
dpns = double-pointed needles ndl = needle cbl = cable needle RH = right hand LH = left hand k = knit p=purl st = stitch st st = stocking stitch skp = sl1 st, k1 st, psso psso = pass slipped st over the k st just made k2tog = k 2 sts together kfb = k into front and back of the same st (increase) rnd = round hif = hold in front c-o = cast-on C3F = sl nxt 3 sts to cbl and hif, k3 from LH ndl, k3 from cbl
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