Unraveling Rib Socks

Finished size: 7″ circumference, unstretched. Fits a women’s size 7 foot.

Materials

Yarn: 1 skein Dream in Color Smooshy yarn (superwash merino, 3.99 oz, 450 yds), color Wisterious. My socks used up approximately 338 yards, so a second skein might be necessary if increasing the size.

Needles: 2.25 mm (US Size 1), 42″ circular needle. This pattern is written for Magic Loop, but can be adapted for 2 circs or for dpns if desired. To knit for a larger foot, substitute 2.5 mm or 2.75 mm needles.

Notions: Stitch marker, cable needle, darning needle

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch in stockinette, approximately 9 stitches/inch in unraveling rib pattern

Supplemental Information:

Adapted from Exploding Rib from A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker.

The 33rd pattern stitch is only necessary to balance the pattern on the instep of the sock. For the leg, use only stitches 1-32.

Methods

Cuff: Loosely cast on 64 stitches and divide: 32 stitches per needle. Join to begin working in the round, placing a marker at the beginning of the round.

Cuff ribbing: K2tbl, [p4, ktbl] to end of needle. Repeat for second needle.

Work a total of 12 rounds in ribbing for the cuff.

Leg: Begin chart, knitting stitches 1-32 of chart.

Repeat chart 3 times, ending on row 30 on last chart repeat.

Heel Flap: K1tbl from needle 1 to needle 2. 31 st remain on needle 1.

Row 1: sl1, [p4, k1tbl] to end

Row 2: sl1, [k4, p1tbl] to end

Repeat rows 1 and 2 15 more times (16 repeats total). If you have a high or low instep, knit more or fewer rows for the heel flap and adjust the gusset decreases accordingly.

Heel Turn:

Row 1: sl1, k17, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 2: sl1, p6, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 3: sl1, k7, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 4: sl1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 5: sl1, k9, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 6: sl1, p10, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 7: sl1, k11, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 8: sl1, p12, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 9: sl1, k13, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 10: sl1, p14, p2tog, p1, turn work

Row 11: sl1, k15, ssk, k1, turn work

Row 12: sl1, p16, p2tog, p1 turn work.

Gusset

K across 19 st, pick up 16 stitches along heel flap, plus 1 st between flap and instep. Knit in pattern across instep stitches (following chart row 31, and including all 33 chart stitches). Pick up 1 st between instep and heel flap, and 16 stitches along heel flap. There will be a total of 81 stitches. Knit 9 stitches from heel and re-position marker for new beg of round.

Round 1: K10, k17tbl, Knit next chart row on instep, k17 tbl, k9.

Round 2: K10, k to last 2 st, k2tog, knit instep in pattern, ssk, k to end of round.

Round 3: K all st to instep, knit instep in pattern, k to end of round.

Repeat rounds 2 and 3 until 31 stitches are left on sole (needle 1), and 33 on instep (needle 2): 64 st total.

Foot: Continue in pattern, knitting all sole st in stockinette and following chart for instep, until foot is approximately 2 inches shorter than desired length. Slip one stitch from needle 2 to needle 1, so that there are 32 st on each needle. k across all st for 1 round.

Toe:

Round 1: Knit to last 3 st on needle 1, K2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k to last 3 st on needle 2, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k to end of round.

Round 2: K all st to end of round.

Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until 24 st remain, 12 each on needles 1 and 2. Break yarn, leaving an approx 12″ tail and graft stitches from needle 1 to stitches on needle 2 to close toe.

Finishing: Weave in ends and block well.

This is the first pattern that I’ve ever published. I hope everyone has as much fun knitting it as I did! The pattern’s Ravelry page can be found here.

Now it can be revealed

(Warning: If I recently attended your wedding, this post may contain spoilers)

I may have mentioned that I had a few secret knitting projects going on, which cut into my sock knitting and blogging schedule. Well, my week of wedding attendance is over, so now I get to show off what I’ve made.

I started off with some Wedding Washcloths from the Purl Bee Blog for my friends E and O’s wedding. I made three sets, one each in the light teal, and natural colors of Blue Sky Skinny Cotton and one in a pretty coral shade of Rowan Purelife Cotton. I’m very happy with how they turned out. They’re all quite soft, especially for cotton, but I do wish I had used the Rowan for all of them, as it has a lovely sheen to it. As big a fan as I am of wool and wool blends, I think it’s good to knit with cotton and other plant fibers every now and again. They really require you to reflect on your knitting and exactly what you’re doing because they’re less forgiving of mistakes than stretchier fibers. Fortunately, blocking does work miracles.

My second secret project is also a very vivid example of the magical powers of blocking. My friend susebraids married a fellow knitter, so I took the risk of going off-registry and making a Hemlock Ring Blanket for the two of them. I very nearly didn’t finish it in time for the wedding, but after a feverish night of knitting the Tuesday before they got married, I had this (with 23 g yards of yarn to spare):

Not terribly impressive, I know. But a good long soak in some wool wash, in combination with every pin that I own yielded this:

The blanket took almost two entire balls of Cascade Ecological Wool in color 8063, knitted on size 10 needles. I knitted the entirety of Jared’s extended chart (3 repeats past where he ended). To be sure that I wouldn’t run out of yarn at the very end, I eliminated the last round of plain knitting, fudged the number of stitches on the edging and tried to knit really, really, really fast. I don’t think the fudging shows up, but the next time I make this (and there will be a next time, because I want one for myself), I’ll do the edging as written. I’ll still try to knit really, really, really fast, though, because I’m sure that was the key to having yarn left over. The finished blanket is very soft and cozy, and has just the right degree of frilly-ness. I couldn’t be more pleased with this project, and I hope the newlyweds like it too.