A Witch's House Socks
Finished
October 8, 2012
January 19, 2013

A Witch's House Socks

Project info
my internal world
Knitting
women's size 9.5
Needles & yarn
US 2 - 2.75 mm
Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool
1 skein = 465.0 yards (425.2 meters), 227 grams
Notes

It came to me in a flash---what I wanted to do with the yarn I hand-dyed here at the Grackle & Sun DyeTable. I wanted to make colourful, warm, cozy socks the likes of which might be worn by Nanny Ogg or Tiffany Aching. Dyed and crafted of my own two hands to keep my own two feet toasty warm as I go about my work.

Totally using my standard pattern.

Turkish Cast-on, Super Rounded Toe, Sweet Tomato Heel, and Tiny Gusset.

Turkish Cast-on (for these socks, I cast on 16 total stitches for each sock)

My rounded toe

Part One:

Increase 4 stitches every row (on each end of each side of each sock---I’m knitting on two circs.) until 1/2 the number of needed increases are made.

I do my increases like this:

Row one: K1, Inc, knit however many, Inc, K1 (repeat for second needle)
Row two: K3, Inc, knit however many, Inc, K3 (repeat for second needle)

Rinse, repeat.

EZ’s backward loop cast-on and the lifted increase both work very well. I did a lifted increase on these socks.

Part Two:
Increase in the same manner every other row until only 3 increase rows are needed.

Part Three:
After last increase row, knit 2 rows plain. Increase, then knit 3 rows plain. Increase, then knit 4 rows plain. Increase one last time. Then carry on with the sock.

Two inches before the heel needs to start, begin increases on the sole---enough to increase about an inch worth of stitches.

Cat Bordhi’s Sweet Tomato Heel

Cat Bordhi developed her Sweet Tomato Heel over many months, working closely with over a hundred test knitters of all skill levels. During this time she distilled her illustrations and explanations again and again, until her test knitters and tech editor agreed the instructions were as clear and perfect as possible. In order to be sure that her work is not misrepresented, Cat asks that designers who wish to use her heel in their patterns send their readers directly to her free videos as well as to purchasing links for her eBook, Cat’s Sweet Tomato Heel Socks ($20), and to the eBook’s individual patterns ($6 each). She is encouraged that many knitters have been able to work from the free videos alone; if not, the eBook or individual patterns will give you the detailed instructions, illustrations, and explanations you need.

Links:

Video: Sweet Tomato Heel: http://tinyurl.com/4x4xmp2

Video: Padded Sweet Tomato Heel: http://tinyurl.com/3dayxlt

To purchase eBook: http://catbordhi.com/books/cats-sweet-tomato-heel-socks-3/*

To purchase individual patterns: http://catbordhi.com/category/patterns/socks/

My tiny-gusset to decrease the extra stitches back out of the sock.

I knit on two circulars, so that must be taken into account when reading these instructions. Before the heel is knit, I divide the instep stitches (1/3) onto one needle and the sole stitches (2/3) onto the other. After the heel is finished, I leave the sock divided into 2/3 and 1/3 on the needles and begin decreasing out the extra stitches that were added before the heel. I do this by decreasing 2 stitches every row on the sole section, one stitch on each end of the needle (K1, SSK, knit however many, K2tog, K1). I knit the instep stitches as normal to complete the row. When all the decreases have been made, I then redistribute the stitches back onto the instep needle to make it 1/2 and 1/2 again and continue up the leg.

When I got to the point where the calf needed increases, I added 2 stitches at the midline of the back of the calf on either side of 2 central stitches. I did this for the first increased stitch by doing a lifted increase, lifting the “mother” stitch and then knitting it separately from the “daughter” stitch already on the needle. For the second increased stitch, I slipped the second central “daughter” stitch to the right needle, picked up the left leg of the “mother” stitch, and then put the daughter stitch back onto the left needle in front of the “mother” stitch and knit them separately.

Each stripe is 8 rows. I did increases on every row 4 and row 8 of each stripe until the sock fit on the widest part of the calf.

Following the wise, wise recommendation of EZ, I decreased 10% of the stitches (8) just before the ribbing. Then I followed Techknitting’s instructions for a smooth ribbing transition. Ended with EZ’s sewn bind-off.

Knit while watching:

Henning Mankell’s Wallander
The Nine Lives of Chloe King
Stargate Universe
Heroes
Suits
Eli Stone

viewed 282 times | helped 2 people
Finished
October 8, 2012
January 19, 2013
 
About this pattern
Personal pattern (not in Ravelry)
About this yarn
by Lion Brand
Aran
100% Wool
465 yards / 227 grams

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  • Project created: October 8, 2012
  • Finished: January 20, 2013
  • Updated: January 23, 2013
  • Progress updates: 9 updates