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

[seryn]

Ribbing. I like 5x2. What I like about the wider k is how the p2 lines fold in on themselves and almost disappear, but still provide stretch for putting on.

The commercial socks I'm wearing are [k5, p1, k1, p1]* .

However, what I would recommend is looking at a sock pattern which explains how it is constructed. So if it says it's for feet that are 8.5 inches at the widest part, and you cast on 60 stitches at 8sts/inch, you know it's [gauge times size minus about 10%]. Then you can do your own math.

The next thing I'd suggest you look at is your yarn and needle size. A lot of things are called "sock yarn", but which are just fingering yarn with a jumped up label. Sock yarn is really tightly spun and very springy. It should always have more than 2 plies. I can knit a good sock yarn tighter (on smaller needles). It's possible that you could knit your socks at 9sts/inch and get closer to the fit you want without changing the math otherwise. (8sts/inch seems to be the standard sock gauge for most patterns.)

But generally if your socks are slouchy, your fit is wrong. One of the things you can try is arch shaping (one example is Arch Villain). Ribbing is easier to suggest and will help with the fitting.

[jackandahat]

People keep saying about the arch thing - but the foot of them fits perfectly. The foot is not a problem. The issue is making the top of the sock big enough to pull the thing over my heel, and small enough that it actually stays up.