Crocheted Socks
Crocheted Socks
A Basic Pattern by Marleen Hartog Crocheted socks are something different. Everybody knows that for wearing-ease and stretch, there is nothing better then knitted socks - but ; it's a LOT of work to make a pair. And most devoted crocheteers, would love to crochet a pair of socks once in a while. And that is, ofcourse, a possibility, because crocheted socks also DO have their advantages : - They are much thicker (i.e. warmer) then knitted socks - They don't wear-and-tear so easily, so they're great for around the house - They're done in a jiffy. The disadvantages are limited to the fact, that there's only very few shoes that you can wear the thicker crocketed socks in , unless you knit a pair of very thin yarn, which is, ofcourse, an option. This basic pattern is suited for house-socks'. They have a lot in common with slippers, but they don't have soles, so you vcan wear them crawled up on the couch or even in bed. I even bought me a pair of oversized Crocs, to be able to wear my home-crocheted socks into the garden You can ofcourse use a much thinner yarn and crochet a pair of socks - or more like stockings really : just make a swap and do the math. For this pattern we use ordinary cheap acryllic yarn (like Supersavers), and a 3 or $3.5\ \mathrm{mm}$ Crochet hook. (Socks on a $3.5\;\mathrm{mm}$ hook are a bit wider and suitable for the thicker foot).
The sock consist of 5 parts. We start with the toe (!) (teen in the imageon the left)(so the rim wil be as stretchable as possible). Ten we proceed with the footpart (voet) untill the heel starts. After the heel (hiel) we continue with the ankle (enkel), and finally ,the rim (boord). In the example I used coulour A for the toe, heel and rim and colour B for the foot and ankle-parts. Ofcourse, you can make the socks any way you like. For the toe we always use single crochets, same as for the heel. The rim is prettiest (and most stretchable) in alternating double crochets. For the foot and anke you can use any stitch or pattern you like.
Toe
Color A : Work 6 sc (single crochet) around a magic ring, or chain 2 and work 6 sc in the first ch. Row $1:2$ sc in every sc - 12 sc. Crochet in spirals, without closing the rows, or work in rows in alternating direction for a stitchpattern similar to the heel if you prefer. Row $z:1$ sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat $6x-18$ st. (stitches) Row $3:1$ sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat $6\times-24$ st. Row 4 : 1 sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat $6\times-30$ st. Now we will increase 1 stitch only at the sides of the toe. You can use colored threads or Row $5:2$ sc in the first sc, 1 sc in the next 14 sc, 2sc in next sc,1 scin next14 sc-32 st. Row $6:2$ sc in the first sc, 1 sc in the next 15 sc, 2sc in next sc, 1 scin next 15 sc - 34 st. Row 7 : 2 sc in the first sc, 1 sc in the next 16 sc, 2sc in next sc, 1 scin next 16 sc - 36 st. Row $8:2$ sc in the first sc, 1 sc in the next 17 sc, 2sc in next sc, 1 scin next 17 sc - 38 st. Row $\circ:2$ sc in the first sc, 1 sc in the next 18 sc, 2sc in next sc, 1 scin next 18 sc - 40 st. Row $10:2$ sc in the first sc, 1 sc in the next 19 sc, 2sc in next sc, 1 scin next $19\;{\sf S C}-42$ St. Row $11-14:1$ sc in every sc around. The toe should now touch the thick part of the your toe (see inmage). Make an etra row if needed (or less, if you have short toes). Close with a slipstitch and cast off
Foot :
For the foot, we continue with colour B. Attach it to the centre of the toe-part. You can work over the 42 stitches in half double crochets (fast and easy), but also in single crochets, a fantasy-stitch, a lacepattern , double crochets, alternating colours, whatever you like. There are no in- or decreases anymore in the foot, and you keep on crocheting untill you've reeched the thick part of your heel (see image).
For the blue sock in the eample l used the following pattern : Row one : attach yarn, and work 1 ch $(=1^{\mathfrak{s t}}\,\mathfrak{s c})$ . \*1 tc (triple crochet), 1 sc. Repeat from \* 21 times. Continue in spirals by ending the row / starting the next row with 1 sc ontop of the first tc.Work along untill you covered the length of the foot (mine was 18 rows, size 38).Close with a slipstich and cast off. Because of the lack of space (height), the triple crochets will form small "bumps' that give this sock it's voluminous structure.
Heel :
There are several ways to crochet a heel, and this is just one of the fastest and easiest. It does give a rather small heel though.. Roew 1 : Attach colour A about 2 stitches right (or left, of you're a lefty like me) from the centre of the footpart. Ch 1 $(=1^{\tt s f}\sec)$ , 2 sc, 1 sl. (slipstitch). Ch 1 , turn. Row $a:2$ sc in the first sc, 2 sc in the last sc, sl in the next st. of the footpart, ch1 , turn. - 4sc. Row $3:2$ sc in the first sc, 1 sc in the next 2 sc, 2 sc in the last sc, sl in the next st of the footpart, ch 1, turn. -6 sc. Row 4 - 10 : Continue in this same way (2 sc in the first and last sc's of the former row, ending with a sl and a ch) untill you have 20 sc. Row 11 -18 (give or take 1 or 2) : work 1 sc in every sc without increasing, ending each row with a sl and a ch untill about 20 st of the foot are unwirked. If tyou have a small ankle, you can do about 2 or 3 more rows. With thicker ankles, you're definitely gonna need the 40 stitches in the round. En with a sl in the next st of the foot, and cast off firmly
Ankle : :
Another easy part. Attach colour B again in the middle of the heel, and proceed working the pattern you used for the foot. Continue untill you've reached the desired length. In the example I used 12 rows for the anklepart, as I like my socks short. If you wanna make them really long (like stockings) you will have to increase every few rows to keep up with the thickness of the calf.Make sure you don;t get holes / gaps on the corners of the heel. Make an extra stitch that you can decrease in nescessary later.Close with a sl and cast off.
Rim :
Without a rim, socks tend to drop down easily, so you gotta make a rim, unless the entire sock was worked in a stretchy pattern. In that case, just make the sock a bit longer. You can choose to use a smaller needle for the rim, to give it a tighter fit. I used ‘ relief-double-crochets' for the rim (don't know how to translate that). Relief - double-crocets are just plain double crochet, but instead of the loops on top of the stitches, you instert the needle all the way around the underlying dc, either at the front or at the back (alternating). That way, the upper dc wraps it's foot ' around' the lower dc, making the rows shorter then normal dc. This is why we only use 2ch for the turning. These turning-chains should be in the place of a dc BEHiND the lower dc, so you get an almost invisible 'seam'.
The first row of the board is made - in color A that you attached in the center again) just 1 dc in every st of the ankle-part. Close row with a sl, ch 2 (for 1st dc of next row). Row 2 and further : 1 dc around the front of the next dc, 1 dc around the back of the next dc. Repeat till end, close with a sl, ch 2 etc. When desired length is reached,(around 6 rows) close with a sl and castoff. You can vary with the rim by working the DC in different ways ; 2-2, 1-2, 3-1 etc. Just play with this a litle. The result will look AND act like 1 k1-p1-knitted rim. Cast of any ends of yarn that are still hanging around, and....your first sock is done ! Proceed with number 2. The socks are precisely the same, but after you've worn them once, you will probably have an obvious left- and right sock, because the toe will shape to your toes. Ofcourse there are dozens, of not hundreds of variations to be made of this basic sock. Fast and easy and a great result you get by crocheting the foot and ankle in 2 alternating colours in half double crochets. You can work only the front- or backloops for a ribbed result, work lacepatterns (with thinner yarn I guess), use coloured or structured yarns etcetera, the possibilities are endless. If you google on crocheted socks' you will find more patterns and ideas then you will ever be able to make. I wish you lots of fun making (and wearing !) your crocheted socks ! Marleen Hartog - September 2010.
