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.

Bootstrap Socks, Procrastinatrix Socks and Sidle Socks

Ok, guys, here are the last 5 Sock Architecture patterns!

Bootstrap Socks 

The Bootstrap socks have a line of garter-stitch running down both sides of the leg that continues onto the heel. In my mind at least, they slightly mimic the most fun detail on a western-style boot — that little seam running down the outside of the leg. The sock ends with a wide toe that can be made short, medium or long.

Besides just looking cool, that little line of garter stitch seems to make the knitting go faster than plain stockinette. As a bonus, it makes counting rounds absurdly easy, so you don’t have to worry about losing your place when you make the second sock (or the heel flap).

It uses a Balbriggan heel, which takes just a small amount of grafting to finish. It’s well worth it, I promise. It looks and wears like a dream.

Why It's My Favorite: I wanted a sock that would coax knitters into trying the heel that has fallen out of favor, for some reason. It's completely unjust that every knitter who loves socks hasn't at least tried this heel. (I found it in Weldon’s Practical Stocking Knitter from 1885.) Maybe I just like the underdog, but it's my go-to heel for top-down socks. I hope everyone else loves it, too!

P.S. - Maybe I don't have a favorite favorite pair of socks from Sock Architecture, but the test knitters sure seemed to. They all clamored to try the Bootstrap Socks!

Sidle Socks, Top Down

"To sidle” means to walk up to someone, usually in a furtive or sneaky manner. These socks aren’t made in a sideways fashion, but the heel and toe are both 90 degrees from what you might expect, and they are pretty enough to surprise. The afterthought heel is worked in exactly the same way as the toe. There is no gusset for this sock.

Why It's My Favorite: Afterthought heels are great for when you just don't have the energy to worry about a heel at the moment but want to knit a sock, anyway. I love them for when I don't know the exact length of the wearer's foot, but know their general size enough to get the circumference right. If you don't plan out the position of the heel as you work, you can adjust the foot length, as needed, when you add the heel.

If you know the exact length of sock you want, you can avoid having to pick out tiny stitches later by using my Extra Needle technique. I explain it, in detail, in the book, and I've also made a video about it.

Sidle Socks, Toe Up

As with the top-down version of this sock, there is no gusset here, but the large heel will help it fit a variety of feet very well. It is possible to nearly completely avoid math in this toe-up version.

The fit of the toe is very similar to a medium wedge toe, and even begins in the same way.

Why It's My Favorite: Again, Extra Needle technique or sizing flexibility, plus the fun of working toe-up and having the sock look a little like a sock even when you've just started it. If you measure the toe after it is finished, you'll know how long your heel will be, which saves just a little math if you are working out your own sizing.

Procrastinatrix Socks, Top Down 

In this sock, the heel is knit last, so it hints at a slight proclivity to procrastination. Hence, Procrastinatrix. Spellcheck may not like the name, but I sure do.

Everything about this sock is entirely run-of-the-mill and familiar, except for the order in which it is made. Amaze your friends and companions by turning what looks like a very strange sock indeed into one with a French heel.

If you love top-down French heels, but hate picking up stitches along the side of the heel flap, this is the heel for you. Decreases, not picked-up stitches, connect the heel flap to the gusset.

I used a slipped-stitch heel flap, for strength.

Why It's My Favorite: This heel concept is a second look at the heel I created for my Tootsie Socks. It allows you to create a relatively common heel, which may already be your favorite, but work it as the last step to your sock, instead of halfway through.

It's either my masterwork or a method that about 5 other people on the planet will like. Time will tell.

Procrastinatrix Socks, Toe Up 

As you might guess, this is very similar to the Procrastinatrix Socks that are knit from the top down. I added a little color change into these: heels, toes and ribbing are in a contrasting color.

I’ve never managed to get grafted stitches at the top of a heel flap to look quite as nice as I would like, so even though this sock is knit from the toe up, the heel is knit from the top down. It’s a bit of a twist and is only really possible with this style of construction.

If you need any more convincing to try a toe-up sock, with this version you can avoid casting on gusset stitches. In many ways, it is the best of both worlds.

Why It's My Favorite: It's a toe-up sock with a top-down heel. The only grafting you have to work is hidden under the heel, so it doesn't matter if it isn't absolutely perfect.

Sock Architecture

I don't know if anyone else remembers, but over a year ago I took a (non-matching, very small) pair of socks on a trip with me and did the usual knitter-normal things like put them on landmarks and take pictures of them..and put them on Twitter, with the tag #GreatSockAdventure. If you like, you can see more of them here.

In the lion's mouth. OK, it's just a cool-looking door.

It was mainly because I couldn't tell you about my other Great Sock Adventure, and the fact that those two little guys weren't alone. They were part of this crowd.

Safe at home.

Which is kind of a long way of saying that my recent silence hasn't just been because of the move. I have been feverishly working away at finishing my book. It's called Sock Architecture. Writing it has been quite an adventure, and I can't wait for other people to see it. I love it, and I'm not just saying that because it's mine. I keep printing out pages and using them as a reference in my own knitting bag (not just when I'm getting frantic emails from test knitters), and I think that's a pretty good sign.

I'm going to explain it more and share as much of this final process as I can, but just for starters, here's the basic book description:

Sock Architecture is perfect for both experienced and novice sock knitters. This thorough, imaginative collection of sock shapes and patterns to try includes 17 toes that can be knit either from the top down or toe up and heel shaping techniques that can be combined into 26 ways to knit a heel from the toe up and 68 ways to knit one from the top down. You're bound to find at least one or two new favorites!  

Choose the best shape for a perfect fit, add a new technique to your bag of tricks or simply try out a different look for your hand knit socks. All the heels and toes are carefully explained and clearly photographed, and you can plug in your own numbers to work at the exact size and gauge you want.  

If you'd rather just pick up the needles and start knitting, Lara designed 17 patterns for Sock Architecture. Most of them include 5 sizes, from women's extra small through men's large, and an adjustable size. With the adjustable size, you can choose your own gauge, size, or both, to make socks as unique as you! 

Lara also demystifies popular sock-knitting techniques and gives you tips and tricks that could only have come from the mind of the creator of Math4Knitters. Terrified of grafting? Love afterthought heels but hate retrieving those tiny left-on-hold stitches? Adore the look and fit of your usual top-down heel, but hate picking up gusset stitches and dealing with that weird little hole at the top of the heel flap? There are tools and methods to make everything easier, and Lara explains them all.  

Jump right in to this ultimate guide to the world of sock knitting!

I'm so happy/terrified/proud/excited that I can barely sit still. Good thing I've got my knitting.

P.S. - Sock Architecture is available for purchase!

Design Inspiration: Tootsie Socks

My Tootsie socks were published in the Spring + Summer 2012 edition of Knitty. Appearing in Knitty was way too exciting for words!

In December of 2011, I had just written a review of The Knitter's Book of Socks and was returning the copy I used to the library. (I now have one of my own - a Christmas gift from my sweetie.)

I turned the book around to put it into the return slot and looked at the orange/brown sock on the cover from the side. I thought, "Why not knit a round heel that ends on the back of the heel?"

I had already experimented with one or two afterthought heels, and had a few notes jotted down about making an afterthought heel that included a gusset. So, I sat down with needles and yarn that weekend and worked out how the decreases would have to work to get the shape I wanted. I showed the result to my friend, Allison, the owner of Simply Socks Yarn Company, and she told me I should send the idea in to Knitty.

I worked up a pair of grey-and-white socks, using the heel and a simple twist-stitch rib pattern that I had swatched a few times, but hadn't found the right project before. I photographed them in a very awkward way using myself and a mirror as the model, and sent it off.

When I heard that they wanted the design, I literally did a dance for joy. The color change was suggested and I knit up a pair in Tangerine and Chocolate.

Then, a wonderful turn of luck landed my twin sister in town on the weekend that I really needed to photograph the final socks. Allison let us use a little space in the shop and we had a great photo shoot. It is still the most fun I have ever had taking photos of handknits.