Chunky Cabled ~left/right~ Socks - knitting pattern

Second pair of socks officially finished and improvised pattern documented.  Now I'll admit that I can often get ahead of myself and dive in at the deep end when it comes to doing something my way before truly understanding it by having done it the professionals' way enough times... Like the time I decided to get stuck right into my first quilt after barely even flicking through a quilting book, or like the time I first tried ribbing (on Day 1 of teaching myself to knit), without actually having read the part saying that you need to move the yarn to the front of your work before purling...  So naturally, after having followed a pattern for my first pair of socks, I had to wing it for my second pair.  And this time I'm very happy with the result.  So here it is:

Chunky Cabled ~left/right~ Socks Pattern


NB: This pattern is slightly different for the left and right feet so they are a mirror of each other when worn.  Please start with the left foot and make sure to follow the right foot instructions for the second sock!

Size:  Adult - one size fits most - pattern indicates where length of foot can be lengthened or shortened.


Materials:

• set of 4 5.5mm DPNs (Double Pointed Needles)
• Cable needle (or your 5th DPN)
• 4x 50g RYC Cashsoft Chunky (sadly has now been discontinued but a good substitute would be Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky)
• Yarn needle to sew in tails

Abbreviations:
k - knit
p - purl
st(s) - stitch(es)
rnd - round
rep - repeat
N - needle
sl - slip (purlwise)
cont - continue
psso - pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch
k2tog - knit 2 together
p2tog - purl 2 together
C6F - cable 6 forward: slip 3 stitches purlwise onto cable needle at front of work, knit next 3 stitches from left hand needle, knit 3 stitches from cable needle.
C6B - cable 6 back: slip 3 stitches purlwise onto cable needle at back of work, knit next 3 stitches from left hand needle, knit 3 stitches from cable needle.

Cast on 40 sts.
Arrange on your 3 needles as follows - N1 & N2: 13 sts, N3: 14 sts.
Join to work in the round being careful not to twist your stitches.

rnds 1 - 10: k2, p2 ribbing [right foot: p2, k2 ribbing].
rnds 11 - 14 (laying foundation for cable & rib pattern): (k6, p2, k2, p2) twice, k2, p2, k6, p2, k2, p2 [right foot: p2, (k6, p2, k2, p2) 3 times, k2].
rnd 15: (C6F, p2, k2, p2) twice, k2, p2, C6F, p2, k2, p2 [right foot: p2, (C6B, p2, k2, p2) 3 times, k2.
Continue this pattern, cabling every 6th round, for 25 rounds in total (you will now have 35 rounds altogether, including the 10 rounds of rib).

Heel Flap
Knit across N1 (in pattern), plus 7 sts from N2, so you have 20 sts. Turn.
next row: sl 1, purl to end of the end of the row.
next row: *sl 1, k1 rep from * to end of the row.
Rep these last 2 rows for 20 rows total.  Now you will begin turning the heel.
row 1 (with purl side facing you): p13, p2tog, p1, turn.
row 2: sl 1, k7, sl 1, k1, psso, k1, turn.
row 3: sl 1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn.
row 4: sl 1, k9, sl 1, k1, psso, k1, turn.
row 5: sl 1, p10, p2tog, p1, turn.
row 6: sl 1, k11, sl 1, k1, psso, k1, turn.
You will now have 14 sts on your needle.
Going back to work in the round, you now need to pick up the 10 slipped sts on either edge of the heel.
With right side facing you, pick up and knit the 10 slipped sts along heel edge.  Now with your free needle, you will knit the 20 sts that make up the front of the sock that have been waiting while you knit the heel.  You need to resume the cable & rib pattern, eliminating the last set [right foot: first set] of purls along this row by knitting them. This row will go like this:
k2, p2, k2, p2, k6, p2, k4 [right foot: k4, p2, k6, p2, k2, p2, k2].
Then (again with frees needle) pick up and knit the other set of 10 slipped sts along heel edge, and a further 7 sts from the next needle.  This brings you back to the beginning of your rounds.

You should now have - N1: 17 sts, N2: 20 sts, N3: 17 sts.  Your cable & rib pattern will be continuing down N2 only.

Gusset
You will now be decreasing every other round on needles 1 & 3 only to bring you back to your original 40 sts as follows:
rnd 1: N1 - knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.  N2 - cont in pattern.  N3 - k1, sl 1, k1, psso, k to end of N.
rnd 2: N1 - knit.  N2 - cont in pattern.  N3 - knit.
Rep last 2 rnds until 10 sts remain on needles 1 & 3 (40 sts total).

Continue knitting around as normal for a further 25 rounds.  At this point you can make the sock bigger or smaller depending on the finished size desired by knitting more or fewer rounds.  The toe decreases measure just over 2 inches, so be sure to stop knitting when the sock is 2 inches shorter than your foot.

Toe Shaping ~ Left Foot
rnd 1: N1 - k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.  N2 - k1, sl 1, k1, psso, p1, k2, p2, C6F (last cable), p2, k1, k2tog, k1. N3 - k1, sl 1, k1, psso, k to end of needle.
rnd 2: N1 - knit.  N2 - k2, p1, k2, p2, k6, p2, k3.  N3 - knit.
rnd 3: N1 - as rnd 1.  N2 - k1, sl 1, k1, psso, k2, p2, k6, p2, k2tog, k1.  N3 - as rnd 1.
rnd 4: N1 - knit.  N2 - k4, p2, k6, p2, k2.  N3 - knit.
rnd 5: N1 - as rnd 1.  N2 - k1 sl 1, k1, psso, k1, p2, k6, p1, k2tog, k1.  N3 - as rnd 1.
rnd 6: N1 - knit.  N2 - k3, p2, k6, p1, k2.  N3 - knit.
rnd 7: N1 - as rnd 1.  N2 - k1, sl 1, k1, psso, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.  N3 - as rnd 1.
rnd 8: knit.
rnd 9: N1 - as rnd 1.  N2 - as rnd 7.  N3 - as rnd 1.
rnd 10: knit.
Now you will have 20 sts in total as follows, 5 sts each on needles 1 & 3 and 10 sts on needle 2.  Now knit the 5 sts from N1 onto N3 and close toe seam with the Kitchener Stitch.

Toe Shaping ~ Right Foot
Following the same instructions for needles 1 & 3 as for the left foot, the following instructions are for needle 2 only.
rnd 1: k1, sl 1, k1, psso, k1, p2, C6B (last cable), p2, k2, p1, k2tog, k1.
rnd 2: k3, p2, k6, p2, k2, p1, k2.
rnd 3: k1, sl 1, k1, psso, p2, k6, p2, k2, k2tog, k1.
rnd 4: k2, p2, k6, p2, k4.
rnd 5: k1, sl 1, k1, psso, p1, k6, p2, k1, k2tog, k1.
rnd 6: k2, p1, k6, p2, k3.
rnd 7: k1, sl 1, k1, psso, k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
rnd 8: knit.
rnd 9: as rnd 7.
rnd 10: knit.
Knit the 5 sts from N1 onto N3 and close toe seam with the Kitchener Stitch.

Sew in tails with your yarn needle and all done!

Socks, Sandwiches & Scandinavia

1st pair of socks! great starting point pattern here

Being a shoe designer, I naturally have a keen interest in socks.  And tights.  And stockings.  I am Tabio's Number 1 Fan.  But I have always been slightly put off by the idea of hand knitted socks.  And I've never understood why so many millions of knitters become so obsessed with knitting socks.  Why socks more than anything else?  Why not mittens?  Or hot-water-bottle covers?  Willy-warmers even?  It's always seemed like it would be so tedious to knit two identical things on such tiny needles, and in that "self-striping" yarn, which, if I'm honest, to me looks naff and messy.  However.  Regardless of this snobbery I seem to have against knitted socks, I've kind of always wanted to give it a go...

As soon as I cast on for my first pair, it all began to make sense.  Socks... of course... Small and satisfying to make... Can be worn all year round... Can be elaborated with infinite combinations of cables and fairisle designs...Very high on the list of most thoughtful gifts... And actually I'm finding it to be a very humbling experience as I think about all the women who would knit socks for their family year in year out, keeping them warm throughout harsh winters.

For now, I'm sticking to chunky socks.  And I'm getting quite a clear 70s Scandinavian vibe too.  Crisp Norwegian summers in floaty, floral dresses, chunky off-white socks and wooden clog-esque sandals (like these Swedish Hasbeens I'm coveting right now); pulling on a pair of oversized nautical cabled socks as it starts getting chilly on the Fjord; cosy log cabin evenings warming fairisled feet by the fire.

detail of my 2nd pair of socks, this time an improvised cabled design. 

getting inspired by this wonderful book.

inspiration for 3rd pair of socks

This is just the beginning.  I feel like I'm onto a new obsession-within-an-obsession here.  More socks to make, more patterns to come.  But one thing is for sure: no self-striping sock yarn in colours like "olive" or "mustard" for me!

A quick word about Sandwiches
I don't bake bread as often as I would like, but today I had a major craving.  Without realising the connection with my Scandinavian Socks, I made a loaf of Rye Bread from this recipe from The Guardian online (the only changes I made were halving the quantities to make a smaller loaf, and using wholemeal as opposed to white flour).  Now I'm wishing I had some salt beef... But left-over roast chicken, mayonnaise and sliced tomatoes will do nicely.

sneaky little fingers

Infinity Snood - knitting pattern

First post... and to tell the truth I'm feeling a little frazzled from all the font and layout configuration stuff so we begin with a little something I prepared earlier...

Materials:

• I used some chunky wool yarn I’d been given from Nepal, so I can’t specify a brand… but any chunky-superchunky weight yarn is ideal.  2 x 100g skein.
• Size 8mm needles
• A cable needle
• Yarn needle for sewing in tails
• Scissors

Abbreviations:

Cr4L: sl 3 sts onto cable needle at front, p1, k3 from cable needle.

Cr4R: sl 1 st onto cable needle at back, k3, p1 from cable needle.

Cr5L: sl 3 sts onto cable needle at front, p2, k3 from cable needle.

Cr5R: sl 2 sts onto cable needle at back, k3, p2 from cable needle.

C6F: sl 3 sts onto cable needle at front, k3, k3 from cable needle.

Cast on 34 stitches.

Row 1: p1, *k1 p1* 5 times, p1, Cr5R, Cr5L, p2, *k1 p1* 5 times.

Row 2: *p1 k1* 6 times, p3, k4, p3, *k1 p1* 6 times.

Row 3: p1, *k1 p1* 5 times, Cr4R, p4, Cr4L, p1, *k1 p1* 5 times.

Row 4: *p1 k1* 5 times, k1, p3, k6, p3, k1, *k1 p1* 5 times.

Row 5: p1, *k1 p1* 5 times, k3, p6, k3, p1, *k1 p1* 5 times.

Row 6: as Row 4.

Row 7: p1, *k1 p1* 5 times, Cr4L, p4, Cr4R, p1, *k1 p1* 5 times.

Row 8: as Row 2.

Row 9: *p1 k1* 6 times, Cr5L, Cr5R, *k1 p1* 6 times.

Row 10: *p1 k1* 7 times, p6, *k1 p1* 7 times.

Row 11: p1, *k1 p1* 6 times, p1, C6F, p2, *k1 p1* 6 times.

Row 12: as Row 10.

Repeat these 12 rows until the snood can fit loosely around your neck.  I did 9 repeats for this one, I would recommend no less, but a couple more would have made for a nice and slouchy version.  You could also make it long enough to fit doubled around your neck, for that I’d say at least 20 repeats.  It is very important that you finish at the end of a 12-row repeat and not in the middle of a cable so as to achieve a cable that appears infinite.

Cast off with a 3 needle bind-off.  Sew in tails and trim excess.