DVD SOCKS -A BASIC TOE-UP SOCK FORMAT
An intricate, complicated sock pattern can be a joy, but so are basic socks that are so simple you can knit them while watching television. These DVD socks are a good introduction to sock knitting. For basic socks I choose to knit toe-up. Why? The ease of trying them on while they are OTN ("on the needles" if you're new) allows me to check fit and progress on the first half of the sock. Another rather important reason is that toe-up socks allow me to knit to nearly the halfway point in my ball of yarn. Because I weigh the ball before I cast on and as I kniy along go along, I can confidently bind off knowing that I will have enough yarn to knit the second sock from the same ball. You're really excited about sock knitting and are looking forward to some quality time with your new yarn, but take the time to read ENTiRELY through this pattern before starting. This is good general advice - but it bears repeating. I suggest either using a knitting journal, or at the least an index card to record all the information you'll be taking note of as you measure and knit this sock. Chances are you'll want to knit another, and another, and well - possibly a drawer full. Knitting basic socks is all about applying basic math to the context of your foot, or perhaps the foot of a person you love enough to knit thousands of stitches on itsy bitsy needles for. (There are an average of 34,0o0 stitches in a pair of adult socks according to knitty.com.) One other tidbit to keep in mind is that a pair of adult socks generally requires 100grams of yarn.
Step One: KNOW YOUR FOOT
Using a fabric tape measure (the metal construction worker kind isn't the most flexible and it might cut your foot), wrap the tape around your foot at its widest - usually the ball of the foot. The ball of my foot is 7.5 inches. Now measure from the tip of the toe to the end of the heel. Mine is 8.5 inches and yes - I have very small feet! Now that you know your foot measurements you can move on to a gauge swatch. Be sure to knit your swatch with the needles you intend to use for your sock. Gauge can vary from metal to wood needles, as well as from double point needles (dpns) to magic loop or two circulars. The fabric you're swatching should give a nice hand. I don't mean applause, but rather a solid fabric. It shouldn't be so snug that your hands ache while knitting, nor so loose that you can see a lot of daylight through the stitches. You don't want droopy socks. It's a delicate balance but you're investing many stitches and want to wear these socks in public right? Do the math. Get a good hand of fabric now and you're likely to get applause when you show off your finished socks later. Here's the math for my feet: Using a 2.0mm dpn I get 32 stitches per 4 inches or 8 stitches per inch with the Lost City Knits PathWay Sock Yarn. Your gauge may be different. If you use a different yarn, you'll likely have a different gauge. e distance around the ball of my foot) x 8 stitches per inch = 60 stitche Because I like a nice snug sock (negative ease), I'm planning for a sock of 56 stitches. I like even numbers divisible by four for basic socks, mostly because of the ribbing at the cuff, but also because it allows me to have the same number of stitches on all four dpns. If you're using two circulars or magic loop this is not quite as important but can satisfy a knitter who likes things orderly.
Step Two: CAST ON
Now you have the math and are ready to cast on. There are several worthwhile methods of starting toe-up socks. Figure Eight Cast On Turkish also known as Eastern Cast On Judy's Magic Cast On All of these methods will put stitches on both needles. Check out the videos on youtube.com and try each of them out using waste yarn. I've used all of the above but generally I prefer Judy's Magic Cast On. To establish the initial stitches, cast on sixteen stitches, eight per needle, using the method of your choice. Knit one round. Some people like to place a stitch marker after the first stitch of the first row. It's not necessary but if you have pretty stitch markers show them off! Now you'll begin to increase the number of stitches by two for each side of the foot (or each half of the stitches if you prefer to think of them that way). I like to increase just after and just before the stitches on either end of the needle. You're still using just two needles. For example, you have eight stitches on each needle: Knit 1, m1, knit 6, m1, knit 1. You now have ten stitches on that needle. Do the same for the second needle. You now have ten stitches on that needle, as well, for twenty stitches total. Now knit one round without increases. Repeat these two rounds until you have the full number of desired stitches. For example, I want 56 stitches total so I increase until there are 28 stitches on each of the two needles. If you're using dpns now is a good time to evenly divide your stitches onto four needles before you move onto the foot section. If you're not using dpns, you're already set to move Onto the foot! Now stop. Look at the toe of your sock. Take your cloth tape measure and measure from the cast on (tippy toe of the sock) to your needle. Hold the fabric flat to keep it from rolling. Do you have a two inch toe? Maybe two and a quarter inches? Make a note because you'll need this information later. Put it on the same index card or on the same journal page as your other foot measurements. Once you've created a very good sock toe, you are ready for some mindless knitting right? Knit every stitch. Round and round and then more round and round. As you knit the foot section with your basic stockinette stitches you'll likely get the desire to try your creation on. Go for it - but be careful. If you're using dpns make sure you ease the sock onto your foot taking care not to drop any stitches off the ends of a needle. If you do, it's okay, because stockinette stitches are usually easy to pick up. Make sure you get them back on the needle with the front leg of the stitch on the side of the needle facing you. If your stitch is twisted and the front leg of the stitch is inadvertently placed on the back side of the needle, you don't have to take it off to correct the placement. Just knit into the back of the loop and your new stitch will be in the correct position! Remember when I suggested that you measure the length of your sock toe before you moved into the mindless rounds? That is basically the same distance you'll need to leave for your heel. Interesting huh? If you had a two-inch toe, knit in plain stockinette until you have two inches less than your full foot length. (You did those measurements in the KNOw YOUR FOOT section. And you wrote them down as well, didn't you.)
Step Three: WHAT A HEEL
When you have knit the foot section within two inches (or whatever the length of your toe measurement was) you're ready to mark the place for an Afterthought Heel. Cut a yard-long piece of waste yarn of the same diameter and smoothness as your sock yarn in a highly contrasting color. It's wise not to use a waste yarn with a lot of halo. You want to SEE this yarn as you will be picking it out later to install your heel. Knit to the end of a round, then using your contrasting waste yarn, knit half of the stitches of your sock. For example - if you're knitting a 56 stitch sock, knit 28 stitches with your waste yarn. Now go DVD Sock Pattern back to where your working yarn is dangling and resume knitting. Yes, you'll knit into your waste yarn for the first 28 stitches of the round. You're now working on the leg of your sock! Generally, a plain sock is either all stockinette except for the cuff, or stockinette on the foot and ribbed after the ankle bone. If you want to switch to ribbing for the leg of the sock I suggest knitting stockinette for 1.5-2 inches after your waste yarn (which goes past your ankle bone) then begin a nice 2x2 ribbing. Continue knitting in the round. Round and round. More round and round.
Step Four: CUFF IT
Once you've knit as many rounds after the waste yarn as you have before the waste yarn it's time to to begin a ribbed cuff. There are numerous types of ribbing but the elasticity of a 2x2 or 1x1 is very nice. Because the number of stitches you are knitting is divisible by four, either of these is good. Knit your ribbing of choice for 1.5 to 2.0 inches. You've been weighing your yarn as you go along, right? And comparing the number of grams (infinitely more precise than ounces!) with the number of grams that your yarn initially weighed, right? Excellent. Knowing this information as you knit along will keep you out of that hideous situation of not having enough yarn for both socks. If you find you're at the halfway point of your yarn before you get the cuff section, go ahead and make your sock a little shorter. Or buy a second skein of the same dyelot. Just as with the cast on there are a number of ways to bind off. My preferred bind off for ribbing (and I've tried oh so many!) is Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. You can find the details on Knitty.com or videos on YouTube.
Step Five: AFTERTHOUGHT HEEL
Now that you've bound off your sock and held it up to admire you will notice the waste yarn again. You have two options. 1) Knit the heel now. 2) Cast on the second sock and deal with both heels after the second sock is finished. If you weighed your yarn as you went along (and I know you did!) then you shouldn't need to weigh it during the second sock. Simply use the first sock as the template for the second knowing that you had more than half your yarn left when you finished your first sock. These days I'm a finish-the-second-sock-before-adding-the-heels knitter. Mentally it keeps me free of the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome, an evil thing of which we shall not speak. If you're not familiar with the term, look it up - after you finish this pair of socks. Or never look it up. You may be better off not knowing that definition. Once you've knit both socks and are ready to knit your heels find some good lighting. Taking a dpn run your needle into the right leg of every stitch below the waste yarn so that you will have 28 stitches on the needle (again using my measurements). Then flip your sock around and do the same thing with the stitches above the waste yarn. Now using an extra dpn or thick darning needle gently pick out that waste yarn. Sound tricky? It's really not. If you want to see a good video I recommend the tutorial on the Knitgirlls website. When you've recovered those stitches and have the waste yarn removed you will be essentially knitting a toe in reverse - which we'll use as a heel. Knit one round stockinette before decreasing as follows: Knit 1, ssk, knit across half the entire stitch count until three stitches remain, k2tog, knit 1. (using my 56 stitch sock as an example again - \*k1, ssk, k22, k2tog, k1\*, repeat once.) Round 2 - Knit all stitches. Continue repeating the two decreasing rounds until you have ten stitches on each needle (or more if you have a wide heel). Now with those ten stitches execute a kitchener stitch (instructions for which can be found in any good beginning knitting book or online) to finish your heel. Then repeat this same process for the second sock. (lf you have a wide heel, knit two additional rounds before you begin deceasing and decrease to twelve stitches per needle. There is a slight amount of negative ease built into the heel to prevent the "floppy toe syndrome".)
A WORD ABOUT SOCK CARE
You've spent a great deal of time knitting those 34,0o0 stitches and if you're like me you want the socks to stay as lovely as possible for as long as possible. A “superwash" sock yarn is considered machine washable. If it is hand-dyed you might want to consider washing it initially by itself in the sink. There should be no residual dye, but things happen. For years now all of the sock yarn I've bought has been hand-dyed and occasionally there is a slight amount of color loss. Soak your socks in cold water for 10-20 minutes. Be sure to use a soap that is safe for wool. By now you probably know some of the reliable names of soaps that knitters use. Euclan, Kookaburra and Soak are all good. Some knitters love sock blockers, which are stiff templates that slide into your wet sock to stretch it out so the design or yarn colors are more evident. Some sock blockers are made from wood, some are made from heavy plastic. They are interesting but not necessary. I prefer to lay my socks flat to dry. And really, wouldn't you prefer to buy another skein of sock yarn with that money?
