Sock suggestions?

[jackandahat]

I've turned out a few pairs of plain socks using this as a guide. Now I'd like to do something more interesting.

The thing is - I'm probably going to have to alter it some, because I have strange feet (long and skinny). A lot of patterns I've seen involve something around 60 stitches cast on in 4ply on 2.75. My current socks are 48, and they slouch, it's just if I made them any tighter they wouldn't go over my heel.

So I'm looking for something:
+ Interesting enough to not just be A Plain Sock
+ Simple enough that it won't break my brain (I don't know what my skill level is, but I'm not that clever)
+ Can be altered if necessary.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm hunting through Ravelry, but of course personal suggestions are better.

Comments

[aedifica]

I've come to really like toe-up socks (OK, I've only made one pair so far but I started my second pair this morning). It might be a little too Plain Sock for what you're looking for, but here's the sock recipe I like best right now:

Judy's Magic Cast-On
You're Putting Me On Socks (very easy to alter!)
Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off

You could spice it up a little by doing unusual ribbing in the leg, or throwing in some colorwork, or something. I've been using self-patterning yarn. Ravelry link to my last pair: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/aedifica/youre-putting-me-on

[jackandahat]

I'm fond of self-patterning - right now this is on my needles.

I've never looked at toe-up, so I might have to learn how to do them.

The "unsuual ribbing" or whatever is what I'm looking for patterns on, because I don't know what to do.

[aedifica]

Oh, that's pretty!

You could do k3p1 ribbing, or moss stitch (k1p1 but alternate each row so it looks all bumpy), or k[any small number]p[any small number] and offset by one stitch each row so it makes diagonal stripes, or anything else you think of. I've been told, and it appears to be true, that the thing that makes ribbing stretchy is the extra yarn used in the switch from knit to purl and back, so it doesn't really matter what pattern of stitches you're doing as long as you have sufficient changes between knitting and purling in each row. I think the diagonal would be cool but I haven't done it yet.

[elfin]

The really cool thing about toe-up socks is that you can try them on as you're making them, so you know exactly how long they need to be.

This is a nice looking rib pattern, with pretty detailed instructions. http://www.wikihow.com/Knit-the-Mistake-Rib-Pattern

[jackandahat]

Well, I try on top-down as I'm making them too, so that's not really an issue. Thank you for the link.

[rainbow]

Oooh, lovely!

If you have trouble fitting socks to your feet, Cat Bordhi's Personal Footprints might be helpful. (http://catbordhi.com/)

[melusina]

Holy cow, that bind off is the best thing EVER! I was almost finished with the first sock of the pair I'm knitting right now when I saw this and I gave that a try - it's perfect. Thanks for the link!

[aedifica]

Oh yay! Happy to spread the love.