Quilted Leaf Lace Socks
Top down, adjustable width, afterthought heel
Materials
Yarn: Light worsted weight wool. I used Knitpicks Wool of the Andes 23766 Avocado, worstedwool, $50\mathtt{g}{=}1$ 10yds.2 balls. Needles: #4 US double pointed bamboo knitting needles - set of 5. Gauge: 5.5-6 sts $,=$ 1" on #4 needles (after washing) This sock is width adjustable within the ribbing. If you need a wider sock, add the extra stitches to the cast on. My sock had 2 sets of double ribbing (#2 below) and 3 sets of single (#1) and went double, single, double, single, single. Visually, the rib breaks the pattern section and most people don't notice how wide a rib section is. The pattern is a panel of 9 stitches plus the ribs between. Whether you are using 1 or two or some combo as I did, the panel of lace comes between ribs. Be sure to adjust your top ribbing to accommodate any extra body rib stitches you may add.
Size
Women's Large (9.5), average width. Knit foot and try on to adjust to the size of the intended recipient. [You may also wish to change the 4 rows of purl stitches between the leaf motifs to keep the pattern repeats the same but change the length].
DIRECTIONS
Cuff
Cast on 52. Join without twisting. Divide sts on 4 double pointed needles, 13 sts on each needle. Work in 1x1 ribing for 1.5 inches.
Switch to Quilted Leaf chart, adding your ribbing choice between the chart repeats. Work until the sock, including ribbing, is about 9" long. You will be in the middle of a leaf. You need to setup for holding stitches for the heel in such a way that they are easy to pick up later when we work the heel. So work across the top of the sock in pattern, but when you are working the back/bottom just knit across both needles. Now go back to the beginning of the two needles and use a slippery yarn such as nylon cord or crochet cotton of about the same weight and knit those two needles again. This sets up the slit that will become the heel later. As you knit around, you will use the pattern stitches on the top of the foot and plain stitches on the bottom of the foot. NoTE: 1 continued my rib band down the foot but without the pattern stitches, as you can see in the photos. Iif you wish to do this, make sure you knit at least one row of knit stitches over the heel holding cord so it is easy to pick up stitches later for the heel.
Quilted Leaf Pattern
Pattern in words: R1 (RS): p9 R2: p9 R3: p9 R4: p9 R5: p2, p2tog, yo, k tbl, yo, p2tog, p2 R6: p4, k tbl, p4 R7: p1, p2tog, yo, (k tbl) 3 times, yo, p2tog, p1 R8: p3, (k tbl) 3 times, p3 R9: p2tog, yo, (k tbl) 5 times, yo, p2tog R10: p2, (k tbl) 5 times, p2 R11: p1, yo, (k tbl) 2 times, sl1 k2tog psso, (k tbl) 2 times, yo, p1 R12: p2, (k tbl) 5 times, p2 R13: p2, yo, k tbl, sl1 k2tog psso, k tbl, yo, p2 R14: p3, (k tbl) 3 times, p3 R15: p3, yo, sl1 k2tog psso, yo, p3 R16: p4, k tbl, p4 R17: p3, yo, sl1 k2tog psso, yo, p3 R18: p4, k tbl, p4
Foot
Work even, keeping only the instep stitches in Quilted Leaf Pattern until the foot measures 1.5 -2 inches iess than the desired foot length.
Round 1:
N1: K1, ssk, knit to end of the needle. N2: Work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. N3: K1, ssk, knit to end of the needle N4: Work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. Round 2: Work even. Repeat these two rnds until 20 sts remain [5 on each needle]. Try on the sock to see if you need to repeat the two rnds once more. Cut yarn leaving a 12 inch tail. Graft sts tog using Kitchener Stitch.
Afterthought Heel
Go back and pick up the held stitches and remove the contrasting yarn. [l usually pick up an extra stitch or two at the edges for no gaps.] Make another toe and finish the same way. Try it on as you go as most people's heels are not as deep as the toes.
Finishing
Weave all ends in on the inside of sock. Pattern & images $\copyright$ 2007 fibergal, Phreadde Davis. Contact fibergal.
