Danube designed by Cailyn Meyer dailyskein.wordpress.com
· Finished Size: Women's 9 ( $9.5^{\prime\prime}$ foot length) · Needles: Size 1 $(2.25\mathrm{mm})$ DPNs or 2 circulars · Yarn: Knit Picks Essential, Mermaid (2 skeins) · Yardage: 400 yards ● Extras: Stitch markers, stitch holder or scrap yarn, tapestry needle ·Gauge: 9 sts $\mathrm{~x~}12\;\mathrm{rows}{=}\;1\,^{\prime\prime}$ in stockinette; first 29 sts $\textbf{x}18$ rows of Chart $\mathrm{A}\!{=}\,2.5^{\prime\prime}\,\mathrm{x}1.5^{\prime\prime}$
If you've done cables and you've made a sock before, you can do these socks! I'm not going to say that these socks are easy. But they were a lot easier than I ex
pected. Much like doing Fair Isle, the complexity keeps the pattern interesting and moving along. The center cable is complex, but the side cables pretty much take care of themselves. Some of the cables take a knit stitch and turn it into a purl or vise versa, so trust in the chart! Also, unlike larger cables, there are cable twists every row. It's similar to cabling without a cable needle, just with fewer stitches. The ribbing at the top is pretty, but not very functional. I've broken it into sections for the written instructions, separated by semi-colons. The ribbing seems random, but there's a pattern, I promise. And it's really only the first row that you have to really pay attention to. After that it's just working the stitches as they're presented. Feel free to substitute your own favorite ribbing pattern instead. I made these socks on 2 circular nedles- I particularly love the two circ method for cables, because I uon t lave tu wuny auuut a cauie uaveig ovel a needle join. I also love the magic of working with DPNs, though, so I've tried to write the pattern as non-needle specific as possible. There are no guidelines as to how to arrange the stitches, except for the heel, so I hope the instructions are clear. I like to use stitch markers to mark the beginning of the round and the start and end of the instep sts.
Special Stitches
PYI Ribbing Pretty But Ineffectual Ribbing): $\ast\mathrm{P}2$ , k2, p2, k1; p2, (k1, pl,) twice, kl; p2, k1, pl, (k2, p2)twice, k2, p1, kl; p2, (kl, pl)twice, kl; p2, $\mathrm{k}1^{*}$ twice $\mathbf{1}\!\times\!\mathbf{1}$ Twisted Ribbing: $^{*1}\mathrm{kl}$ tbl, $\mathfrak{p}1^{*}$ repeat to the end of the round. Right Twist: Slip next two stitches purlwise. From the back, insert the left needle into the back of the first slipped stitch. Pull the right needle from both stitches and reinsert right needle into the loose stitch from the front. Slip this stitch back to the left needle, then k2 tbl. Left Twist: Insert the right needle into the back of the second stitch on the left needle. Pull Ift nedle out of the frst two stitches and reinsert the left needle into the loose stitch from the front. Replace stitch on right needle to left needle, then k2tbl. Right Purl Twist: Perform a Right Twist, but at the end, kltbl, p1. Left Purl Twist: Perform a Left Twist, but at the end, pl, kltbl. All knit stitches on Chart A and B are knit through the back loop (tbl). Gray stitches on the chart are purled. Leg $\mathrm{CO}\ 80$ sts and join in the round, being careful not to twist. Work PYI Ribbing OR $\bf{1}\!\times\!\bf{1}$ Twisted Ribbing for about 1'. Work Chart A (pg 3) completely once, then work Rounds 1 to 30 of Chart A again. (The red line shows the halfway mark on the chart.) Divide for heel: Work Round 31 of Chart A. At the end of the round, work the first 3 stitches as presented from the beginning of the round, turn. Heel Row 2 (RS): $^{*}{\mathrm{Sl~l~}}$ , k1\* repeat until the end of the row, turn. (After the first few rows, you may want to put the other 40 sts on a holder or scrap yarn.) Repeat these two rows 28 more times for a total of 30 rows, then work Row 1 again. RS will be facing. Heel Turn Row 1 (RS): S1 1, k22, ssk, k1, turn. Row 2 (Ws): Sl 1, p7, p2tog, pl, turn. Row 3 (RS): S1 1, k8, ssk, k1, turn. Repeat Row 2 and 3, working 1 more stitch every row, until all stitches have been worked, ending after a WS row. 24 stitches remain. Gusset Pick up and knit through the back loop 16 stitches along the heel flap and 1 st in the gap between the flap and the instep. (17 sts increased). Work Row 1 of Chart B across the held instep stitches. Pick up and knit through the back loop 1 st in the gap and 16 stitches along the heel flap (17 sts increased), k12 heel stitches to move the beginning of the round. Beginning of the round is now in the center of the heel. 98 sts. Round 1: Knit to 3 stitches before instep, k2tog, k1. Work the next row of Chart B (pg 3) across instep. K1, sk, knit to the end of the round. 2 sts decreased. Round 2: Knit to instep. Work the next row of Chart B across instep. Knit to the end of the round. Repeat Round 1 and 2 until 40 sole stitches remain; a total of 80 stitches. Foot Work Round 2 until $2~\sqrt[1]{2}^{\bullet\bullet}$ short of desired length. Try to end on Row 1, 13, 19 or 31 of Chart B. (Shown ending on Row 19).
Toe
Round 1: Knit to 3 stitches before instep, k2tog, k2, ssk, knit to 3 sts before the end of the instep, k2tog, k2, ssk, knit to the end of the round. 4 sts decreased.
Round 2: Knit.
Repeat Round 1 and 2 until 20 sts remain. Graft remaining sts together using Kitchener Stitch. Weave in ends, make another one, and wear around proudly!
