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

[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.