Arthurian Anklets

I love these socks. They gave me so much trouble while I was making them, but I forgive them because they’re awesome. After a washing, the Louet Gems has gotten so soft. Lowell looked at the socks at one point and said “Those are pretty. They remind me of those dresses, like in King Arthur or Robin Hood.” So he gets all credit for the name. (If you don’t like the name, it’s his fault! Can’t blame me.) I love the French blue/copper combo; I’ll have to use that again sometime.

 

These are made using the principles in Cat Bordhi’s book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. For those that haven’t found this great book, Cat realized that as long as you increase 2 stitches every 3 rows, it doesn’t matter where those increases are. I’ve put the increases so that they look like the typical top-down heel flap gusset, but the socks are knit toe up with no heel flap. Crazy, huh? The socks end up with a slightly longer gusset section, but it fits really well. If you’ve got New Pathways, feel free to insert your own Master Numbers into the pattern.

 

The only problem with this approach is that it makes the pattern much harder to write up (I guess that’s really my problem, not yours). This liberated increase thing is great, but if you’ve never read New Pathways it can be confusing. The increases used are lifted increases, instead of the normal M1s. You can, of course, use M1s if you prefer. Knotions has a great tutorial on lifted increases if you’ve never used them before. The part that really deviates from normal is the heel turn/”flap.” You’ll be knitting short rows for the bottom of the heel, but instead of working each row gobbling up one wrapped stitch to turn the heel, all the wrapped right-side stitches are worked right after one another in one row, then you turn and purl all the wrong-side wraps on one row. This ends up looking a lot like a standard top-down heel turn. Then, you’ll essentially be knitting more short rows, in that you won’t be knitting in the round yet. The “heel flap” is knit back and forth, but instead of wrapping stitches, you’ll ssk and p2tog to join the “flap” to the sides. This also gets rid of all the stitches increased during the gusset section. There’s some moving around of stitches, but it’s not too bad.

 

This pattern is written for 2 circular needles. If you prefer DPNs, just split Needle 1 and 2 in half, so that you have a quarter of the stitches on each needle. Sometimes (this is so silly) I think of my DPNs as Needle 1a, 1b, and Needle 2a, 2b instead of 1, 2, 3, and 4. I can’t help you if you’re one of those freaks that only uses 3 DPNs to hold the stitches. 😉 The pattern uses 5 colors, but the light blue in the center of the leg color work is optional. If you’ve got stash to bust, great. If not, the Ginger or the French Blue look great in that spot, or just keep using Caribou. Fewer ends to weave in that way! The top is one of my favorite parts, I think it looks like a crown; after the color work, a vikkel braid (from Folk Knitting in Estonia) is worked and then the sock is bound off using Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Sewn Bind Off. The edge flares out from the leg just slightly, which I wasn’t sure about at first, but has really grown on me.

 

Oh, and you’re not imagining things, the two socks in the pictures are slightly different… I tried putting some 1×1 ribbing on one to see how it changed the fit, but I didn’t feel like ripping it back out again when I realized it did nothing. Live and learn.

 

Edit 8/25/08: I’m sorry if the charts weren’t loading. I’m trying out some new blog writer software and I’ve had a lot of trouble with this post… anyway, I think I fixed the images.

Edit 9/13/08: If you’d like more information about the sock construction without the color work or stripes, check out this post.  Also includes information on sizing the socks.

 

Arthurian Anklets

Download the PDF: Arthurian Anklets

• Finished Size: Women’s Size 8 1/2-9, foot length 9 1/2″
• Needles: 2 size 0 (2mm) circulars (or DPNs), 2 size 2 (2.75mm) circulars (or DPNs)
• Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl, MC: French Blue (1 skein), CC1: Ginger (1 skein), CC2: Champagne (1 skein), CC3: Caribou (1 skein), CC4 (optional): Neptune (1 skein)
• Yardage: MC: 170 yards, CC1: 25 yards, CC2: 30 yards, CC3: 25 yards, CC4 (optional) 3 yards
• Extras: Stitch markers (at least 2), tapestry needle
• Gauge: 9 sts x 12 rows = 1″ in stockinette, 9.5 sts x 11 rows = 1″ in Leg Chart

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. Picture tutorial 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. Picture tutorial 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.  See Cat Bordhi explain this technique here.

Vikkel Braid: M1 and place stitch just made on left needle. *Knit the second stitch on the left needle through the back loop then knit the first stitch as normal and drop both stitches off the left needle. Return the stitch just made to the left needle.* Repeat from * to * to the end of the round. Pass the last stitch over the first stitch of the round to return to the original stitch count. Picture tutorial here.

Tip: Try joining new colors 10-15 sts before they’re needed and carrying the tails forward 10-15 sts after they’re cut to reduce the ends you need to weave in. If that didn’t make any sense, check out the Weaving Ends In As You Knit Tutorial. If you’re doing color work, you probably have all the skills needed for this- it’s the same thing as catching a yarn to shorten a float, you just do it every stitch.

Toe

Using Judy’s Magic Cast On and smaller needles, CO 12 sts in MC (French Blue) to each circular needle. 24 sts.

The starting needle is Needle 1 which will be the instep needle. The second needle is Needle 2 which will be the sole needle.

Rnd 1: Knit

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

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

Foot

Knit 4 rounds in MC (French Blue).

Foot Chart

Knit 2 rounds in CC1 (Ginger).

Knit 1 round in CC2 (Champagne).

Change to Size 2 needles.

Work Foot Chart across all stitches (repeat chart 9 times.)

Change to Size 0 needles.

Knit 1 round in CC2 (Champagne).

Knit 2 rounds in CC1 (Ginger).

Knit 3 rounds in MC (French Blue).

Gusset Increases

Round 1: LRinc, place marker (PM), knit to the end of the needle, 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 10 sts have been increased (13 rows), ending after Rnd 4.

Join CC1 (Ginger) and work Rnds 2-3. Carry MC (French Blue) upwards by twisting the yarns at the beginning of the round.

Work Rnds 4 and 2-3 in MC (French Blue). Carry CC1 (Ginger) upwards by twisting the yarns at the beginning of the round.

Work Rnds 4 and 2 in CC1 (Ginger). Cut CC1 (Ginger).

Continue working Rnds 2-4 in MC (French Blue), starting with Rnd 3 until there are 100 sts total, 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.

There should be 76 sts on Needle 1 and 36 sts on Needle 2.

Short Rows for Heel

The short rows are worked back and forth on the sole needle (Needle 2).

Row 1 (WS): Purl to 2 sts before the end of Needle 2, 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.

Turn Heel

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.

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.

Heel Back

Set up step: Move the 20 sts before the first marker from Needle 1 to the left side of Needle 2. Remove marker and replace marker between the sole sts and the moved sts. 55 sts on Needle 2.

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

Set up step: Move the 20 sts after the second marker from Needle 1 to Needle 2. Remove marker and replace marker between the sole sts and the moved sts. 74 sts on Needle 2.

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

Knitting in the round resumes on the first round.

Round 1: *Sl 1, k1* to 1 st before the gap, ssk, k1, knit to the end of Needle 1, k1, k2tog, knit to the end of the sole. 2 sts decreased.

Knit 4 rounds even.

Knit 1 round in CC1 (Ginger). Cut MC (French Blue).

Leg Chart

Purl 1 round.

Knit 2 rounds in CC2 (Champagne).

Change to Size 2 needles.

Work Leg Chart across all stitches. (Click Chart to see bigger version.)

Change to Size 0 needles.

Knit 2 rounds in CC2 (Champagne).

Knit 1 round in CC1 (Ginger).

Work Vikkel Braid over all sts.

Bind off using EZ’s Sewn Bind Off.

Please Note: I post my patterns as soon as I’ve completed them because I’m excited to share them with you. They have not been fully tested. But they are free. I’ve made every effort to make sure that the instructions are clear and error-free. There may be typos or pattern mistakes and if you find them or have any questions, please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me, dailyskein at gmail.com.

 

This work by Cailyn Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.