These are the first of what will be a few sock experiments that I need to complete over the next few months. I’m going to pick patterns and try to follow them as closely as possible to become familiar with different sock knitting techniques.
The Simple Skyp Socks are a free pattern by Adrienne Ku that I chose because of the pretty texture. I found it to be a relatively simple knit after I worked out the flow of the pattern (it’s setup to be printed as a booklet but I read from it as a PDF).
More detailed specifications are on my Ravelry project page but I used Vuorelman Veto 5ply (85% wool, 15% polyamide) yarn that I picked up in Finland. I knit 7 rows for the cuff, 14 repeats of the pattern rows for the leg, and overall there were 34 repeats of the pattern rows from the cuff down to the toe.
Needle material matters
Once I got in to the gusset I started to puzzle about the looseness of my knitting in comparison to the Cable Along Socks I knit recently with the same type of yarn and same sized needles.
It finally dawned on me, after I checked through my phone’s photos (which I use to snap work in progress pictures to remember what I’ve done), I noticed that I’d used a 2.5mm metal circular needle on the previous socks but I was using a 2.5mm wood circular needle on the current socks.
I’ve been having other gauge oddities lately that could be due to naturally beginning to knit looser, but I think in this case it’s more about the metal vs wood needles.
Boring toes are boring
My Cable Along Socks had boring toes because it was the first time I’d designed cabled socks and I didn’t know better, but the toe section was relatively small.
These Simple Skyp Socks have a much larger toe section and I find the flat stockinette fabric to be boring. If I knit these again sometime, I’d try to bring the pattern further down the toe.
The positive point for the toes was that it was the first time I used a grafted toe to finish the socks. I followed the grafting tutorial from knitty.com and they turned out well!
I think I prefer the 8-point star toe I normally use, but if a future pattern requires a grafted toe, I’ll do it again (but I’ll keep an eye out for boringness!).
Heel shapes
The heel turn was different to my usual style. I don’t know the names of these heels (if anyone knows, please comment below), but my normal heel results in a 90 degree angle. The Simple Skyp Socks has a rounder heel which is approximately a 135 degree angle. This results in more stitches to decrease in the gusset, and the top of the gusset has a longer (more roomy) curve.
I like my socks tighter fitting but I don’t expect this roomier version will cause any problems for the recipient.
What are your favourite socks?
Do you have a favourite sock pattern? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below so I can give them a go over the next few months.