Freestone Firecracker Socks a Royale Hare/Karen Emrey pattern $@2009$
Supplies: 2 skeins of Royale Hare Superwash Merino Yarn in “Freestone Firecracker", 2 oz. 140 yards, (3 skeins for men's or $\mathbf{X}$ -large women's), size 3 double point needles (set of 5), tapestry needle Note: The actual stripes or swirls your socks end up with will vary with where on the yarn you start your knitting. The sample sock in the photo started with red shortly before yellow (the lighter, brighter yellow), then red, black, red, gold, red, gold, red, black, red, yellow, red, black, etc. You could also start knitting from the yarn and see what happens. If you don't like the result, simply take the knitting out and start over a little down the yarn. To make two socks match, start each sock at the same color place in the yarn. Gauge: 5 1/2 sts/inch, 8 rows/inch in stockinette stitch Cast on 40 sts (stitches) and divide onto 3 needles. I like to start each needle with a knit stitch so I put 12 sts on needle 1, 16 sts on needle 2, 12 sts on needle 3. Being sure your sts are not twisted, join and $\ast\mathtt{k}2$ $\mathtt{p}2^{*}$ (knit 2, purl 2) around to where you started. Pm (place marker) to indicate beginning of each round. I use one of those locking markers that I can slip through the knitting and move easily as the knitted fabric grows. Continue $\mathrm{*k}2$ ，$\mathtt{p}2^{*}$ until the knitting reaches $6^{\circ}$ Heel Flap: Place 20 of the sts onto one needle. These are the sts we are going to knit back and forth on, leaving the remaining sts to just hang out. Sl (slip) the first st and any other sl sts as if to purl, $^{*}\mathrm{sl}~1,\k~1^{*}$ your last st will be a k. Turn the work. Sl the first st, purl across row. Continue these two rows for a total of 20 rows. Turn heel: Sl 1, k 11, ssk (slip two sts as if to knit, then slip the left needle back into them and knit them together), k 1 turn. Row 2: Sl 1, p 4, p2tog (purl 2 sts together), p1 turn. Row 3: Sl 1, k 5 (or to within 1 st of gap created in $1^{\mathrm{st}}$ row by the ssk decrease, now ssk the next st & the one on the other side of the gap together, $\textrm{k}1$ turn. Row 4: Sl 1, p 6 (or to within 1 st of the gap from the previous row, p2tog, pl turn. Repeat rows 3 and 4, increasing the number of sts by 1 on each row until all sts are used up. Ending with a purl row.
Instep:
Round 1: Knit across heel sts Pick up 16 sts on rt side of heel flap (one st in each of the slipped edge sts) K across instep sts (20 sts) Pick up 16 sts on left side of heel flap Now the start of each round is the center of the 10 heel sts. Name this needle # 4 K to within the last 3 sts of right heel side, k2tog, k1. This is needle # 1 Knit all 20 instep sts. This is needle # 2 On next needle # 3 k1, ssk, k remaining 13 sts. Round 2: K all sts Repeat rounds 1 & 2 evenly dividing and placing on needles # 1 & 3 sts from needle $\#\,4$ whencomfortable. When you have 10 sts each on needles # 1 & 3 stop round 1, and knit rounds of 40 sts until the sock reaches the start of the space next to your big toe. Stop at the start of needle $\#\ 1$ Toe: Round 1: K to within the last 3 sts on needle # 1, k2tog, k1. On needle $\#\,2,11$ ,ssk, $\mathbf{k}$ to within the last 3 sts on this needle, k2tog, k1. On needle # 3, k1, ssk, k remaining sts on this needle. Round 2: K all sts. Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until there are 12 sts remaining. Slip needle # 3's sts onto needle # 1. You will have 2 parallel needles each with 6 sts. Now you will graph together these sts with the Kitchener Stitch. Cut yarn leaving at least a $12^{\bullet}$ tail. Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle. Kitchener Stitch: 1. With threaded needle, pass the yarn through the first st on the front needle as if to knit. Take this st off the needle. Pass the yarn through the second st on the front needle as if to purl. Leave this st on the needle. 2. Now take the yarn around to the back needle, and pass the yarn through the first st as if to purl. Take this st off the needle. Pass the yarn through the second st on back needle, as if to knit. Leave this st on the needle. Repeat steps 1 & 2 until all sts are used up. Pull the remaining yarn through to the inside and weave in securely. Weave in all other ends. If desired, block by thoroughly soaking in cool water, squeeze out most of the water and either place on a sock blocker or lay flat to dry. Royale Hare 719 Agnew Pl Santa Rosa, CA 95401 707-579-2344 www.royalehare.com
