Free Pattern: Fork in the Road Socks

Yarn: Simply Socks Yarn Company Poste Yarn Striping (75% superwash Corriedale wool, 25% nylon; 393 yd/359 m per 100g skein)

color: Giant’s Causeway

I want to show off the design possibilities for self-striping yarn and my favorite afterthought heel. However, to keep the length of the foot easily customizable, the sock needs to be made out of order and from the top down. The “afterthought” heel is made after the leg and before the foot. So, an unusually-shaped sock, worked in the most common top-down order of things.

Along the front of the sock, the stripes should be all the same depth, with just a little extra  work from you when joining new yarn for the foot. An extra-deep stripe forms under the heel. It looks like a fork in the road, to me. 

If you think you don’t like the fit of afterthought heels, I hope you’ll try this wonderful version. It is automatically customized to fit the wearer, and I have never known anyone who tried it who didn’t fall in love. In my book, Sock Architecture, I call it the thumb-joint hat top heel. To make it fit perfectly, you will have to measure the feet and part of the thumb of the wearer, which should confuse them greatly. It’s always fun to scare the muggles, isn’t it?

All that, and it's a free pattern!  Big thanks go out to my test knitters (ScrappyGal, FiaKnit,ColumbusCrafter65, cinnymom, Bonni and YayForYarnByMGG) for testing and Allison of Simply Socks Yarn Company for the yarn support.