Saturday, June 09, 2007

My first attempt at an original pair of socks!

DH has been complaining for a while that whilst I've been knitting plenty of pairs of socks for myself he has to make do with shoddy shop bought pairs so I finally decided to be brave & knit him a pair. The strength was needed as he has big wide feet with long toes so I knew that they'd be a lot of stitches involved.

However before I could even get to that bit there was the small problem as to the choice of yarn. I decided to use DK yarn as that would mean less stitches & also that they would be walking socks as we'd just booked our summer holiday to the Highlands of Scotland. Stripes with any colour in them were deemed 'too girly' & I couldn't face the agony of pure black socks just yet. Eventually we settled on this:

Blue & Annie
Regia Country Style 6 ply in Korsar & Granite


Due to the size & breadth of his feet I decided that I had to go toe up & after my fiasco with the Yarn Over Cables I wanted to go toe up + two socks at the same time - gulp...

Yes, a totally new concept for me but Susoolu has assured me many times that it isn't that hard.

After an evening spent on the sofa, swatching with a variety of needles I ended up with 3mm which gave me the chance to play with the Knit Picks Classic Circulars that CL gave me at Christmas. These needles are 16" long so not quite long enough for two socks at once but are totally workable to start with.

The toes reminded me of an odd shaped bikini:

toe up socks
DH socks - toes


I had originally planned to use a pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks but with 10 stitches per inch & a foot width of 10" the yarn didn't 'carry' any of the available 5 stitch patterns. The fleck dominated & the patterns just didn't work. So I settled on a boring 3x2 rib. However that didn't last long as I got bored after 5 rows so I threw a cable in for good measure & repeated it every 4th row.

Here we have the feet in progress:

toe up socks
DH socks - feet


The 5 stitch patterns in Sensational Knitted Socks are all cuff down but I wanted to go toe up, so reused the heel that I discovered when knitting my Oriel Socks as I have found them really comfortable. This meant a bit of tinkering on the heel but I got there in the end. There are no more in progress photos I'm afraid as our house move interfered with that. They were mainly knitted together on a 24" Knit Picks Classics Circular once I got past the toes but separated for the heels.

Toe Up Walking socks
Toe Up Walking socks


I reinforced the heel by using a slip stitch so hopefully they'll last in his walking boots. The socks fit his wide feet perfectly & the cable serves to pull the fabric in on his slender calves!

Toe Up Walking socks
Toe Up Walking socks


Pattern: My own made up with the aid of Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Regia Country 6ply in Granite
Gauge: 10 spi
Needles: 2x 3mm Knit Picks Classics Circulars
Technique: Toe up using the Turkish Cast On, two socks at once on circular needles. A reverse slip stitch heel flap & finished off with a stretchy bind off (scroll down to the red text).

Amazingly I even managed to get the stripes to match:

Toe Up Walking socks
Matching stripes


These socks were finished about a month ago & DH has already worn them but proved to be a reluctant model. He loves the fact that they fit him so well & was so lavish with his praise that I've already started another pair for him!

15 comments:

RooKnits said...

Those are great socks! I find it hard not to make mens socks to baggy around the ankle/calf but those are fab.

Bryony Ramsden said...

Those are fab :D They look like proper walking socks, and I really wouldn't have known they were hand knit if you hadn't said/run a knitting blog. Job well done :D

ra said...

Ooh nice socks. Funny I too have just braved my first pair of self designed (sort of) toe up two socks on one needle. Coincidence.
I thought that at the toe stage they looked as if I was knitting a pair of wooly Dutch Caps (not very practical!!!)

Tracey said...

They look great, I love the wool you have chosen.
knitty, witty, woo

Linda said...

Very nice socks, I might just be able to persuade husband to have some knitted with that picture!

Alice Yu said...

Wow - beautiful!! I love that the stripes match!

Catknit said...

Smashing socks, and isn't it good to know they're appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Followed you over from SKS KAL. Fabulous job on these! The yarn, the pattern, the fit - all perfect together.

Anonymous said...

I love the socks..
:o)
thanks to my clever wife..
DH

xxx

Modelwidow said...

I am impressed. Just don`t let my DH see those socks.

Just catching up on blogs - So sorry to hear about Vince, and very best wishes to DD.

Amelia said...

Please be very careful when posting such content. Other husbands are likely to get very jealous and start assuming that they too are entitled to a pair of socks (or multiple pairs of socks if you continue in this vein). This is not a good thing! Gorgeous socks mind you. x

blueadt said...

Thanks for all the nice comments. I'm really pleased with them & obviously so is DH. Re fit I just followed the Charlene Schurch formula of foot circumference x gauge = number of stitches. For example DH's feet are 10" & I got 10 stitches per inch so I used 100 stitches on each sock. With the same gauge I'd need 86 stitches as my feet are 8.5" wide plus another to make an even number.
MIL now wants a pair as well as she does a lot of walking but at least a pair for her can be in more exciting colours :-)

RoxyK said...

Oh wow, those are amazing socks. No wonder DH is so happy with them ;)

I agree it is in our best interests to hide the pics from any DHs that might decide they too need a pair socks!!!

(I did commented yesterday but it went blank after so not sure if it went through or not.....so trying again)

Hellbelle said...

Very impressed by your socks. Especially the way you knit them at the same time.

Soo said...

Great socks -- and I admire the dual knitting technique. I would be a mess of tangles within 3 rounds!

I've decided that sock design is even more addictive than knitting socks ... and that's crazy addictive!