Rubbish Day, Talk to Me About Socks!

[glinda]

I've had a rubbish day at work and I'm trying to distract myself in a positive fashion.

So...knitters of dreamwidth, if you would, please tell me about your favourite sock patterns. I have a bunch of sock wool and I kinda hate the pattern that came with the wool. I'm therefore looking for recommendations for better sock patterns. What are your favourites? Why do you love them? Do you prefer starting at the cuff or toe-up socks? Magic loop or four pins? And what on earth is an 'after-thought heel'?

Comments

[hellkitty]

I can't stand magic loop, tbh--I do two circulars, but I know I'm the mad minority there.

It depends how much yarn I have. If I know I have enough, I can do top down. If I'm not sure, I'll start toe up--rather a shorter cuff/shortie sock than a sock that can't make it down your foot!

A lot of people like Rose City Rollers (they're shortie socks), Tin Can Knit's Rye sock is nice and rustic. Basically, rav has a ton of free sock patterns that are pretty good. Hermione's Every Day Socks is a favorite on Ravelry--great with variegated yarns. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#view=captioned_thumbs&pc=socks&sort=popularity&availability=free Here's a good link to free ones. It all depends on what you think the yarn would look great in!

Afterthought heels are super easy--you put in a lifeline--basically, you knit some way-different-colored waste yarn for half the stitches, then go back and keep knitting around till you finish the sock (you have to know the length of your instep) and then go back, pull out that waste yarn, pick up all those stitches on both sides, and basically just knit another toe! It's fun to do afterthought heels and toes in matching contrasting yarn.

[fyreharper]

Oh, is THAT how those work? I can DO toes! It's turning heels that always comes out all wonky with holes where I don't want 'em!

[thistleingrey]

*raises hand for two circs*

[mommy]

I don't have a favorite pattern, but I do prefer toe-up to cuff-down because my cast-ons aren't as stretchy as my bind-offs. DPNs are my preferred needle option wherever possible.

Afterthought heels are where you ignore the heel and knit through the rest of the sock as a tube, then cut out and pick up stitches where the heel should be. It's not my preferred method, but it works well with a short-row heel pattern.

[hellkitty]

Have you tried the German cast on? It's quite similar to the long tail cast on (just one little tweak) and is super stretchy!

[mommy]

I usually use Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off on cuffs. I've heard great things about the German cast-on, though!

[domtheknight]

I do 2 circulars - never got into magic loop although really the underlying principle is the same. I do that because then I can do 2 socks at once, and if I only did 1 sock at a time I'd never do the second sock. This way they're both done together and they're identical (or nearly).

I like cuff down and toe up for different reasons. I like the way heel flaps fit better, but I really don't like doing a heel flap on toe up socks. I often have a simple toe up pattern going at the same time as a more complicated cuff down pattern and alternate depending on brain space and stuff like that. I have a pair of socks with me constantly, since they're small and easy to carry around I will work on them wherever.

Afterthought heels you put in after the rest of the sock is done - others have explained too. Some people love them, I'm not a huge fan although I've done some. I prefer to just get the heel done where I'm at and not go back later. I want to be done when I cast off or when I sew together the toe, so I can just weave in the end and then immediately put the sock on.

If you haven't knit very many socks and want to, I think it's worth trying different techniques to see what you like best. For most sock patterns you can sub in your own items - if you hate heel flaps you can pretty much always put in a short row or afterthought heel instead. There's a bunch of techniques for starting toes, etc. Life is too short and there's too much great yarn to knit something you hate with it.

[vilakins]

I always do two-at-a-time toe-up magic loop with a rounded toe (it suits my foot shape) and the fish-lips-kiss heel. The pattern costs $1 on Ravelry and is worth it for the very professional looking eel and the the cardboard foot template that it ensure the socks fit your foot properly. I add stitch patterns from other socks if the yarn needs more interest.

[down]

I like to do my sock knitting on dpns (on a set of five usually, two to the top of the foot and two to the back, one to knit with) - I really don't like working with cable needles at all, I don't get on with the cables, but I like dpns because I get to feel accomplished each time I reach the end of a needle as well as when I finish a row. :)

The patterns I have used more than once are mostly from knitty - monkey socks for one. I've knit both the original pattern version and the no-purl version - which is where you literally knit all the purl stitches in the pattern - no-purl was really good not-quite-interesting but not frustrating knitting, but the original version has a bit more stretch so stays up better on me - though that might just be my gauge wandering off!

I really like the pattern because I found it very easy to 'read' my knitting in the previous row when I was learning how to do that, which helped me keep on track with where I was, so I didn't go wrong much, which was nice. I also really like the shape of the pattern - it's also one where the pattern seems to remain visible in both varigated and non-varigated yarn - I like lacey patterns, but so much sock yarn is varigated with quite short sections of colour, and the patterns can tend to vanish in the colour changes.

My first pair of socks was Broadripple which I've done multiple times since, it's really easy to remember and keep going with, and the slip-stitch heel flap like this one is my preferred type of heel - I have really narrow heels and this just feels more comfortable, and more durable. (I always pick up a few more stitches in the corner of my heel-flaps than required, and knit them together - normally through the back loop - to avoid getting little holes there - I'm terrible at picking up stitches though!)

I don't have much preference on toe-up or cuff down - it's easier to get the sizing right and knit to the very end of my yarn for the longest possible socks with toe-up, but I'm not terribly neat starting them off and I like fiddling with the shaping of my toes if I do them cuff down (I tend to try to make them fit with the length of the pattern repeat, which is easier on the way down for me, as then I can see how long the pattern looks)

I also rather like blackrose (knitty again) for the slightly asymmetrical pattern, but unless I was doing something else at the same time I got bored on the stocking stitch sections, so I'm still finishing off the second leg.

After-thought heels can be fun if you want to have a heel in a contrasting colour but it involves doing a row in a bit of scrap yarn and picking up the stitches, or cutting your actual yarn and picking up the stitches, and I don't like picking up stitches in the first place, so I tend to do contrast cuffs and toes if I want to do that kind of thing. :)

[usuallyhats]

I haven't done much sock knitting but I always go for magic loop over dpns - I knit really loosely so dpns keep sliding out. /o\

[glinda]

I have problems keeping my stitches on dpns too (though not because I'm a loose knitter, I'm usually at the too tight end of the scale), I've only knitted one thing with any sucess on dpns so had completely sworn off socks until someone at my knitting group taught me magic loop.

[beradan]

I've knit socks toe up and top down, magic loop and on five needles, and once two at a time on a magic loop, with heel flaps or short-row heels. I've also admired a lot of pretty, complicated patterns and (not for the complicated patterns) variegated and self-striping yarn.

...and what I've learned from all this is that what I really want in a sock is top down, five needles, just enough of a texture (not lace) to keep me from getting bored but not so much that I can't watch tv and knit, and a solid or tonal yarn in colors that match the rest of my wardrobe. I also have fairly large feet and am finding that it's better for me to go with a pattern that includes a large size than to try to fiddle with the pattern and hope for the best.

I've made Hermione's Everyday Socks (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hermiones-everyday-socks) and Nemesis (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nemesis) and love them both, although Nemesis tends to fall down a bit, and I'm currently making Basket Weave Rib Socks (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basket-weave-rib-socks).

I've also had Hwaet! (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hwaet) in my queue for literally seven years and may never be good enough at stranded colorwork to make it, but it's BEOWULF ON SOCKS so it's going to be in my queue forever even if it totally doesn't fit the rest of my sock preferences.

[glinda]

Beowulf socks! Those are amazing, though as much as I love colourwork, I feel combining colourwork and socks has the potential to go horribly wrong...

[issenllo]

5 dpns. Well, actually 9, as I start both socks at about the same time and work on them alternately, to avoid second sock syndrome: 4 for each sock, 1 to work with. I don't have a favourite pattern, just a regular plain-ish one but I use a different lace pattern for each pair, which keeps it interesting enough. Cuff-down. Have looked into after-thought heels but they look like they'd involve more weaving-in of ends, which I loathe. The great thing about knitting a sock is that you only have one end to weave in!

[ironed_orchid]

Well, actually 9, as I start both socks at about the same time and work on them alternately, to avoid second sock syndrome

That is a great idea!

I mostly use Lifestyle Toe Up Socks, by Charisa Martin Cairn but on dpns, and add different lace or cable patterns as the whim takes me.

[snakeling]

I prefer toe-up, because I'm always deathly afraid of getting short, even though I've knit enough socks to know that 100g is more than enough for two socks in my size.

I use either magic loop or two circulars. I don't like dpns, because I always get ladders.

My favourite heel is the German short row heel, which I discovered in Balaenopteridae socks. I tend to adapt patterns to use my favourite heel.

[bedlamsbard]

My go-to is Jaywalkers, which I've done about a dozen of. I go top-down on five DPNs with a super-stretchy slipknot cast-on, and almost always do an eye of partridge heel unless I'm dome kind of fancy sock that has a heel pattern written in. But 80% of the time I'm doing Jaywalkers, so that doesn't happen often. My other go-to sock pattern is A Nice Ribbed Sock (third one down), which is a 3x1 rib -- I'm a very boring sock knitter!

I actually stopped knitting a few years ago when I injured my wrists, and only started again last year; since then I haven't done anything fancy. I'm mostly a process person since I just like having something to do with my hands while I watch TV (in all honesty, the Jaywalkers take up SLIGHTLY too much of my attention for anything I need 90% brain for; the ribbed ones I can do without having to look at them, but I always have Jaywalkers on the go).

[vilakins]

I have the Nice Ribbed Sock in my favourites and the stash yarn picked out for it, but do you find the Jaywalkers fit well? I faved that too as it looks amazing, but I see some people said it has no stretch and is hard to get on over the heel. Obviously that's not the case with you if you make so many, so I'd love to know your thoughts on it.

[bedlamsbard]

Hmm, that hasn't really been my experience -- it's true that they don't have much stretch compared to a lot of other patterns, which can make them difficult getting on over the heel, but not so much so that it's ever actually been a problem for me. (I knit them on size 1 needles, on the smallest size (the 76-stitch cast on), often with Black Trillium Fibres Pebble Sock, but I used to do them in various Opal sock yarns.) I have very average-sized feet (US 7 1/2 to 8) with a very high arch and a relatively narrow ankle.

They're very snug (but not uncomfortably so for me), which probably comes partially from the fact they have no stretch; I've never had a problem with them drooping, and usually in winter I'll wear them over another pair of (commercial) socks or over tights. I think I also tend to knit the heel flap a little longer than the pattern actually calls for, since I find it as written to be a little squat and I like it square, but I'm not sure how much that would affect fit.

[vilakins]

Thank you, that's very encouraging! I might try the toe-up version as I found a PDF for that and I can test fit round the heel as I go. I use the fish-lips-kiss (pretty much the German short-row) heel and if there's a problem, I should be able to adjust. They would look sooo good in a rainbow-striped yarn I have.

I've used the chevron pattern in scarves and it looks stunning.

[bedlamsbard]

They look so good in any multi-colored yarn! And I suspect they'd actually look very good in any solid yarn; I just don't buy that very often. *g* The striping goes a bit interesting around the heel and then onto the foot, since the stitch count differs from the leg; I find it fascinating but I know other people might find it aesthetically displeasing. (I don't get much color pooling with the Pebble Sock, but sometimes you get REALLY interesting color pooling on the foot, depending which yarn you're using for it -- I think Lorna's Laces especially, if I remember correctly.)

[vilakins]

I actually like pooling when it goes all swirly, but the yarn I'm thinking of has quite wide stripes so should look pretty much the same all the way. I'll do FLK heels with yarn from the outside of the cake (something I finally figured out in a previous pair, too late to benefit earlier socks) to keep the striping uninterrupted. It should look spectacular!

I've never used a solid yarn for socks! I do have a few variegated ones in my stash so if my adaptations work well, I'll give them a go too.

[bedlamsbard]

Please post pictures when you finish! That sounds like it will look awesome. (/she says, not having taken pictures of her own WIPs at any point in the near past)

I very seldom buy solid yarn -- right now I'm trying to knit down what I bought before I had to stop knitting a few years ago (wrist injury), which includes one gorgeous purple solid that I'd started a cable scarf on, but I don't like cables so I'll probably pull it out and...well, probably make Jaywalkers out of it, tbh.

[vilakins]

You could stripe more than one solid which would look great in Jaywalker or ribbing! Two-colour stripes: just pick up the alternate colour each round, or for more, see the helical socks here which have a colour change each DPN - and it's by Grumperina who designed Jaywalker! I use magic loop, but that's easy to adapt. I have some solids I bought for contrast heels but never used and I think they'd be great striped together like that.

[bedlamsbard]

Oooh, that's interesting! I'll have to try that sometime. Thanks for the rec!

[vilakins]

Here are the Ravelry projects using the pattern: some very cool effects with different yarns. It's a nice way of using leftovers too.

[pinesandmaples]

This is the pattern I mentioned this morning that people seem to memorize and make a million of: Pomatomus.

I've knit a lot of Cookie A patterns (Mingus being a favorite), and I find them all well-documented and thoughtfully proofed. My friend Jaimi makes a million pairs of these; she said that after pair 3, the pattern was unforgettable.

[bedlamsbard]

Oooh, those are super-cute! I feel like I've seen them done before as fingerless gloves/armwarmers too... (Which I need to stop buying since it's not like I don't know how to make them.)

[pinesandmaples]

Yep.

[pklemica]

This was the first sock or chart pattern I ever knit, and helped me understand what it meant to 'read' your knitting! For how impressive/complex both the finished product and the instructions look, surprisingly easy pattern to not mess up if you have even the slightest skill at telling a previous row's knits from its purls.

And yeah, Cookie A is da bomb. Creative and really clear, specific pattern writer.

[pinesandmaples]

I am as follows:
- Team Toe-Up (never run out of yarn in a sad place!)
- DPNs For True Love (because everything else is so damn fiddly)
- Team Metal Needles (I LIKE STABBING THINGS LIKE MY OWN BUTT WHEN I SIT ON THEM)
- Team Two Sock (dead simple project + brain meltingly good project)

Some of my favorite designers are my favorites because their sock patterns are well-written, perfectly copy-edited, expansive, written and charted, and affordable. (Some free, some for purchase...but the purchases are well worth the cost!) If you want to get fancy, the queen of the socks is probably Cookie A. I also love knitting stuff by Kirsten Kapur. (I have most of her mystery socks done, although grad school + working full-time to pay for grad school kinda destroyed my knitting mojo.)

[aunty_marion]

Late to the party, but...

I prefer toe-up, magic loop, two-at-a-time, but I started out using two circulars (and 2AAT!) when I was shown how it worked; till then I'd never voluntarily knitted in the round, because I'm a loose knitter and I kept losing the DPNs - the stitches would just slide off... Then I graduated to magic loop, and learned Judy's magic cast-on, and I was away.

I usually do a Fleegle Heel for plain vanilla socks, and even some others - last month I did a pair of Express Lane socks (which pattern also, incidentally, has a rather good heel, with no holes left at the corners!), but did them toe-up, and put a Fleegle heel on. I have a very wide foot, though slightly less so at the heel, but I do also have a very deep instep, and plain short-row or flap & gusset heels are often not quite deep enough. For some reason the Fleegle heel seems to avoid this problem for me; another one that's quite good for it is Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel, because it's worked over slightly more than half the stitches, so has more space.

As to patterns - there are a few that I've done more than once, like Express Lane (non-knitters or those who don't know will look at it and go "Ooh, look at those pretty little cables! Aren't you clever!", at which you say, smugly, "No, no cables involved at all!"); I've got three pairs of Loki socks by Karen Lauger, and two pairs of the Do Never Ever socks by Tiina Kuu. And Sunday Swing (originally from Knitty) is another one you can do top-down or toe-up, and customise your heel for.

[kameil]

I have gotten really into simple socks that I can mindlessly work on while talking to others, but I did a pair of Spring Forward socks and they turned out really nicely!! http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTspringforward.html

I am also working on a pair of No Purl Monkey Socks. And a pair of Blueberry Waffle Socks. And uh. some Rose City Rollers.

I get fewer ladders with DPNs for some reason so I prefer those. I usually do cuff-down simply because it is what I am used to? I keep meaning to try toe up again but I get the results I like doing top-down and I knit so slowly that I like to stick to my tried-and-true methods.