The Right Sock

Begun: 1/5/08

Finished: 2/9/08

Pattern: The base is SKS’s Four-Stitch Ribbing Patterns, p. 33, using the Waffle Rib pattern on p. 38. The sole is reverse stockinette again, given the heavy weight of the yarn.

Size intended: Men’s 10.5, Narrow

Needles: Two size 3 circular needles for the ribbing, the heel, and the toe, two size 5 dpns and one size 5 circular for the rest.

Yarn: Crystal Palace Puffin, which is 100% polyester fleece ribbon, in Jet Black

Gauge: 5.5 stitches

Cast on: 48 stitches

Amount of ribbing: 2 inches

Leg length: 7 inches to top of heel

Heel height (including entire flap): 3″

Heel flap length: 2″

Total foot: 10.5″

Heel to toe: 9″

Comments: My first socks for someone other than Joh! Yes, I know socks don’t have gender, so it should be the “Sibling of Grim Socks,” but these were specifically intended for male wear. Perhaps I went to an extreme to make sure they wouldn’t be too garish for that purpose, but I wanted to make sure my friend would at least be willing to try them on!

In fact, from the picture, they look pretty much like the Grim Socks, but if examined closely along the edges, the bumpiness of the crossing lines on the ribs can be seen.

I do like Puffin for heavy-weight socks, and Joh said her Grim Socks fit perfectly, so that was crucial in choosing the pattern. A men’s size 10.5 is close to a women’s size 9, so I wanted something that would work up about the same size. I tried three different cast-ons—originally I wanted to do Stansfield #10, on p. 48, which is a more complicated waffle rib, but that sock looked like it was going to be much too big around. (Now watch: my friend will tell me that the socks are too narrow!)

I finally figured out that when doing a reverse stockinette sole, you must also reverse the Kitchener stitch (that is, make it purl, knit, knit, purl) to make the toe come out correctly. Unfortunately I only figured this out at the end, when I turned the socks inside out to weave in the ends and noticed how much nicer the toe looked from that side. I owe you another pair of socks, my friend, with better toes! Just let me know how this first pair fit!