Striped Socks Pattern

Gwen’s Knee High, Toe Up, Striped Socks

This is the first pair of socks I ever knit, so the pattern I wrote is a bit long, taking from several sources (see references at end). I used easy techniques, ones I could execute without too many errors, since I'm still a beginning knitter. I tried to explain how I did every step because that's the only way I could get the socks to match, in shape, at least. The finished socks are thick and cozy, but not too thick to wear with shoes.

Socks are worked over 64 sts with gauge of 6.5 to 7 sts/in for a woman's size 9 foot, circumference 9.5”. I give a range because my own gauge varies. Did I mention I'm still a beginner?

Needles: 2.25mm (US 1) double pointed needles and/or 2 circular needles, or size to obtain gauge.  Use US 6 to bind off.

Yarn: 2 colors A and B, about 500 yards (450 meters), (125g to 150g) 4-ply fingering weight sock yarn.

Noro Silk Garden Sock: Colors 252 (green, black, blue), 272 (grey, green, aqua, purple), 292 (purple, blue, pink, gold)
Each skein is Approx. 327 yds, 300 m
Lamb's Wool, 25% Silk, 25% Nylon, 10% Kid Mohair. Hand wash.

Toe: In color A, Turkish cast on, started with 24 stitches, 12 sts on each needle. To do so, start with slip st on bottom needle. Slide st to left (with points of needles at right). Wrap counter clockwise (looking at needle point on right) 12 wraps. With a third needle, knit top row, rotate 180°, keeping front facing front. Knit to finish round 1—24 sts.

Increase 4 sts every round to 40 sts total, then increase 2 sts every round to 64 sts as specified below. I like to keep the slipknot from the cast on for the first 2 rounds to keep the tail in place until the knitting is established. Be careful not to knit into the slipknot.

Rounds 2-5: *K1, M1 (Make 1 = K front and back of next st), Knit to 2 st remains on needle, M1, K1.* Repeat on second needle.—14, 16, 18, 20 sts on each needle.

Clip marker into beginning of Rnd 1 and end of Rnd 4 to indicate start. Top of foot is needles 1. Bottom of foot is needle 2.

Round 6: K sts onto 40” round needle, with 20 sts on front and 20 sts on back needle.
Round 7: Front needle: K1, M1, K until 2 sts remains on needle, M1, K1.
Repeat on back needle. 22 sts each needle.
Rounds 8, 10, 12, 14: K
Round 9, 11, 13, 15: Repeat Round 7—24, 26, 28, 30 sts each needle.

Color: Change color after Row 15. Then, change color every 8 rows (3/4 inches) using a traveling slip-stitch jogless stripe: Change colors at front (top) of foot, after first 10 sts of front needle. PM (place marker) where color changes. On color change round, slip marker and begin knitting with new color. On next round, knit to marker and slip it. Then, slip the first stitch of the new color from the Left needle to the Right needle. Continue knitting. On the round before the next color change, shift the marker one stitch to the left. Slipped stitches will form a spiral over the top of the foot. If you want slipped sts on back (bottom) of foot, start changing colors on the back needle instead.

Work stockinette for 7 stripes, not including the toe (or until the foot is about 2 inches shorter than the desired finished length). To help the heel shaping, in last stripe, Rounds 5 and 7: Add 1 st at beginning of and end of needle 2 (heel needle)—64sts.

Heel: With waste yarn of the same weight, K 34 sts (centered on the heel), and sl back to beginning of heel. Decrease on Rounds 2 and 4: 1 st at beginning 1 st at end of needle 2 (heel needle)—60 sts

Before completing the heel, knit 1 or more stripes of the leg (see below). Then, remove waste yarn and sl sts onto 4 dpn—18 sts on each. In order to get 18 sts on each needle, you will pick up already K stitches in the corners on the sole side of the sock. These extra stitches will keep the sock from stretching where the heel meets the sock and will fill in a hole that might otherwise be there. Start new color in either corner.

Round 1: K.
Round 2: Needles 1, 3: K1, ssk, K to end.
Needles 2, 4: K to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1.
Repeat Round 2 until 12 sts on each needle (24 total) remain. Sl onto 2 needles. Cut yarn leaving 16 in tail. Graft 12 sts from each dpn together.

Leg: Keep changing stripe color every 8 rounds. Always keep 30 sts on front needle.
Stripes 1, 2, 3: To shape the ankle, decrease 2 sts in Round 5 on each side of back 10 sts—58 sts, 56 sts, 54 sts. To do this,
Needle 1: K.
Needle 2: K5, ssk, K until 7 sts on needle, K2tog, K5.
Stripes 4 and 5: K.

The calf increases are worked in pairs, and each pair of increases is worked on the outside of previous increases, so they get farther apart as you go up the calf. To do this, increase on either side of 2 center back stitches.
Stripe 6-13: Add and subtract stitches to achieve the numbers below (Back (heel) needle: K4, m1, K to 5 sts remain, m1, K4).  Front needle: K— Stripe 6 ends with 56 sts, 7:58, 8:60, 9:62, 10:66, 11:68, 12:70, 13:72, 14:72, 15:74, 16:76, 17:74, 18:70. (Note: numbers updated 11/6/09)  In round 18, decrease the 4 sts: sl knitwise, sl purlwise, place L needle into front of these 2 sts, and k2tog.

Ribbing: Start 1 row of K with new color. Work ribbing for 18 rows, alternating between wide and skinny ribs: 2-1-1-1, that is, *K2, PKP*. Repeat between *s for round.

Bind off: Use a size 6 needle and bind off in the rib pattern.

References
Knee Socks! http://www.streetsandyos.com/archives/2006/04/knee_socks.php
Elfine’s socks by Anna Bell
Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Feather and Fan Sock by Wendy D. Johnson
Jogless Stripe by Technitter, technitting.blogspot.com