Information! September 10, 2008

Giving in to peer pressure, I ordered the yarn for the Estes vest in Scuba.  It shipped today from Knit Picks, which means that in 7 calendar days, I can cast on! (Can you tell that I’ve ordered many a time from Knit Picks?)  I’m very excited.  I’ve started the Aran Tam, as well, which has already undergone enough significant changes that I’m thinking it’s my own pattern now.  We’ll see how it turns out, shall we?  The yarn is interesting to work with… It’s very grabby;I can take the needles out and wave the thing around all day and those loose stitches aren’t going anywhere.  There was too much yarn to wind on my ball winder, so I made a center pull ball the old fashioned way.  I’ve now used up most of the center of the ball… but you wouldn’t know it from the outside!  The ball is still just as solid as before.  It’s pretty cool, in a way.  The good news is that it actually doesn’t feel too bad against my forehead, but I’m not pulling it down over my ears!

 

Changing the subject completely, I wanted to talk- er, write, a bit about the Arthurian Anklets.  Well, not them specifically, but the principles they’re based on.  I believe I’ve mentioned Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters (7 or 8 times at least.)  I love that book.  It’s got great information for beginners, like casting on, increasing, and other tricks that make things much easier.  For advanced knitters, it’s like taking knitting LSD.  It opens your mind.  Such a simple concept- increases/decreases don’t have to be confined to the gusset- but the way she designs socks with it… it’s genius.  Honestly, even if you’re not interested in designing your own socks or figuring out the different “architectures” (her name for different increase patterns), the socks in the book are gorgeous.  I can’t stress enough how cool this book is.  If you like knitting socks, you should at least flip through it at the library or bookstore.

 

Well, if you like it so much, why are the Arthurian Anklets the only socks based off this book then, you ask?  The book involves something called “master numbers.”  These are basically your foot in number form.  All you have to do is substitute your master numbers for the numbers in any of her patterns, and they’ll fit.  The first few socks that I designed from the book (they were ugly anyway, you’re not missing much) didn’t fit me well at all.  Well, the toe and foot part fit pretty well, but then when I started the increases, everything got too loose and the heel was just plain sloppy.  You’ll soon figure out by reading this blog that I like to plunge into projects and sort of figure things out as I go.  I also love complicated projects, but I can be quite the perfectionist when I want to be.  Eventually these things collide head on and I end up with a mess of yarn that I’m “figuring out” and cursing for not behaving the way I want it to.   I had a 6 color Fair Isle sock on my needles.  Need I say any more about this horrible incident?  I’m sure some of you got light-headed just at the words “6 color Fair Isle” and “sock” might have pushed you over the edge. I was very attached to this project and the spectacular failure of the heel nearly killed me.  I didn’t touch NPfSK for a while.

 

Enter the Arthurian Anklets.  (Rather risky of me to start another NPfSK sock with color work, eh?)  I’ve figured out the problems I had been having with the fit of the socks; my feet are some sort of mutants.  (Seriously, this isn’t confined to hand knit socks!)  It wasn’t the fault of NPfSK.  A few tweaks, which I now do to most of my socks, and they fit perfectly.  The Anklets are my new favorite pair of socks.  The only other thing stopping me was the hassle of writing up one of these unusual patterns, but having done it once it wasn’t so bad.

 

Anyway.  Let me get to the point.  If you don’t have NPfSK, the Arthurian Anklet pattern will probably be confusing.  I’ve stripped out the color work and stripes and typed up the basic master numbers info so that you can make a sock that fits you, instead of me. Keep in mind that the stitch totals, etc, will be different if you use your numbers instead of mine.  Hopefully, you’ll be able to see the logic in the pattern and the Anklets will make more sense.  The master number info is below the pattern.  Trust me, Cat presents this info so much better than I do.  (I might not have tried as hard as I could with the master numbers section… I don’t want to be accused of stealing revenue away from Cat!  Please, if you like this sock construction, or the master numbers idea, go look at her book!  She’s got much more info than I’ve presented here.)

 

Toe Up Socks with Faux Gusset/Heel Flap

• Finished Size: Women’s Size 8 1/2-9, foot length 9 1/2″
• Needles: 2 size 0 (2mm) circulars (or DPNs)
• Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl, MC: French Blue (2 skeins)
• Extras: Stitch markers (at least 2), tapestry needle
• Gauge: 9 sts x 12 rows = 1″ in stockinette

Special Stitches

LRinc (Lifted Right Increase): Pick up the right side of the stitch below the next stitch on the left needle and place it on the left needle. Knit into the front of this new loop. Knit the next st as normal. See Cat Bordhi explain this technique here.

LLinc (Lifted Left Increase): Pick up the left side of the second stitch below the last stitch on the right needle and place it on the left needle. Knit in to the back of this new loop. Knit the next st as normal. See Cat Bordhi explain this technique here.

W&T (Wrap and Turn): RS: Bring yarn forward between needles. Slip the next stitch knitwise. Return yarn to back of work. Slip wrapped stitch back to left needle. Turn work. WS: Move yarn between needles to the back of the work. Slip the next stitch. Return yarn to front of work. Slip wrapped stitch back to left needle. Turn work.

CW (Conceal Wrap): RS: From the front, pick up wrap from underneath and move it up and over the stitch it wrapped onto the left needle (the wrap should be on the left of the stitch it wrapped). Knit stitch and wrap together through the back loops. WS: From the front, pick up wrap from underneath and move it up and over the stitch it wrapped onto the left needle (the wrap should be on the left of the stitch it wrapped). Purl stitch and wrap together.

Toe

Using Judy’s Magic Cast On, CO 12 sts to each circular needle or to 2 DPNs. 24 sts.

(Or cast on your total number of stitches divided by 6 onto 2 needles.)

The starting needle is Needle 1 (or Needles 1 and 2 for DPNs) which will be the instep needle(s). The second needle is Needle 2 (or Needles 3 and 4 for DPNs) which will be the sole needle(s). If using DPNs, add the 3^rd and 4^th needle after Rnd 1.

Rnd 1: Knit

Rnd 2: K1, LRinc, knit to last st on Needle 1 [2], LLinc, K2, LRinc, knit to last st on Needle 2 [4], LLinc, k1. 4 sts increased.

Repeat Rnd 1 and 2 until there are 72 sts total (36 [18] sts on each needle) ending on a Rnd 2.

Foot

Knit approximately 1 ¾” (or as far as the toe + foot section in your numbers.)

Gusset Increases

Round 1: LRinc, place marker (PM), knit to the end of Needle 1 [2], PM, LLinc, knit to the end of the round. 2 sts increased.

Round 2 and 3: Knit.

Round 4: Knit to marker, LRinc, slip marker (SM), knit to second marker, SM, LLinc, knit to the end of the round. 2 sts increased.

Repeat Rnds 2-4, until there are 100 sts total, ending after Rnd 4. 28 sts increased.

(Or increase to the number of stitches indicated by your master numbers, ending after Rnd 4.)

Heel

Set up: *K2, LRinc* 6 times, k2, knit to second marker, *k2, LLinc* 6 times, k2, knit to 2 sts before the end of the round, w&t. 12 sts increased.

(Or increase the number of stitches in the heel set-up round indicated by your numbers.)

There should be 76 sts on Needle 1 [1&2] and 36 sts on Needle 2 [3&4].

Short Rows for Heel

The short rows are worked back and forth on the sole needle (Needle 2). If using DPNs, move all sole stitches to one needle.

Row 1 (WS): Purl to 2 sts before the end of needle, w&t.

Row 2 (RS): Knit to 1 st before last RS wrap, w&t.

Row 3 (WS): Purl to 1 st before last WS wrap, w&t.

Repeat Rows 2-3 until 12 sts have been wrapped on each side, ending after a WS row. 10 sts remain unwrapped in the center.

(Or wrap the number of stitches indicated by your numbers.)

Turn Heel

Unlike a normal short row heel, where one wrap is worked per row, this heel has all the wrapped stitches on the RS worked in 1 row then turns and works all the WS wraps in the next row.

Row 1: Knit to first wrapped st. Conceal Wrap (CW) 11 times, until last wrapped st. Pick up the last wrap as normal, then (treating wrap and its stitch as one st) ssk with the last st on the left needle. 1 st decreased. 35 sts

Row 2: Sl 1, purl to the first wrapped stitch. CW 11 times, until last wrapped st. Pick up the last wrap as normal, then (treating wrap and its stitch as one st) p2tog with the last st on the left needle. 1 st decreased. 35 sts

Heel Back

Set up step: Move the 20 sts before the first marker from Needle 1 [1] to the left side of sole needle. Remove marker and replace marker between the sole sts and the moved sts. 55 sts on sole needle. (If using your own numbers, the number of stitches to move will be different.)

Row 1: *Sl 1, k1* to 1 st before the marker, remove marker, ssk, turn. 1 st decreased.

Set up step 2: Move the 20 sts after the second marker from Needle 1 [2] to sole needle. Remove marker and replace marker between the sole sts and the moved sts. 74 sts on sole needle.  (If using your own numbers, the number of stitches to move will be different.)

Row 2: Sl 1, purl to 1 st before the marker, remove marker, p2tog, turn. 1 st decreased.

Row 3: *Sl 1, k1* to 1 st before the gap, ssk, turn. 1 st decreased.

Row 4: Sl 1, purl to 1 st before the gap, p2tog, turn. 1 st decreased.

Repeat Row 3-4 until 2 sts remain on either side of the gaps.

Leg

Next round: *Sl 1, k1* to 1 st before the gap, ssk, k1. Resume knitting in the round. Knit to the end of Needle 1 [2], k1, k2tog, knit to the end of the sole. 2 sts decreased.

Knit even until leg is 1” shorter than desired length.

Work 1” of ribbing.

Bind off using EZ’s Sewn Bind Off.

 

How to size these socks to fit any foot:

Use these numbers in place of the numbers in the pattern for a custom fit.

Measure the circumference of the middle of your foot.

Multiply the number of stitches per inch on your gauge swatch by that measurement. Multiply this number by 0.9 (to make the sock snug, we’re taking out about 10% of the stitches). This is the number of stitches for the foot part of the sock and the leg, called the midfoot number from here on out.

Divide your midfoot number by 6 (round to the nearest even number) to get the number of stitches to cast on.

Work the toe increases until you reach the number of stitches in your midfoot number.

Divide the midfoot number by the rows per inch from your swatch. Now subtract that number from the total length of your foot. This is how long you should knit the foot before starting the gusset increases.

Divide the midfoot number in half. This is the number of stitches to increase before turning the heel. Divide this number in half to find the number of increases on each side.

Divide the number of increases on one side in half. Increase this number of stitches on each side during the heel set up round.

Measure the bottom of your heel. Multiply that number by the stitches per inch. That is the number of stitches remaining unwrapped in the center of the short rows. Subtract that number from the total sole sts, divide in half, and that is the number of wraps on either side.