Slip Stitch Striped Sock Pattern

I'm REALLY behind on writing up some of my patterns, but here is one I just did that seems to be of interest to a few people. It's for socks...go figure :)LOL

Slip Stitch Striped Socks

I am all about customizing the size of my socks...because I have large feet. So don't be afraid of some knitter's math here. That way you can also use this pattern for different yarn weights, too. Pattern is written for toe-up socks on two circulars or magic loop method.



Here I used one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the "Grumperina" colorway. That's right ONE skein for my size 11 feet! Yes, I did augment with a bit of light purple :)LOL

A few notes:
I use the Magic Cast On method described in Knitty Spring '06 with one slight modification. I do not make a slip knot to begin. I simply take the yarn and wrap it around the top needle to begin. This eliminates the nasty bump I was getting with the slip knot.

Toes and heels are knit using a short rows that do not involve wrapping stitches. This is not my original idea, just how I knit them. Here is another slightly different description of how to work these. Also, I am a LOOSE knitter! Seriously, I use 000 needles to get 8spi with fingering weight yarn. So if you are a "normal" knitter, you may have trouble picking up the "bars" with your size 1 or 2's. Instead you may try a small gauge dpn or crochet hook to help you pick up these bars to close your toes & heels.

I like to add some 2x1 ribbing to the underside of my socks along the arch...but you don't have to.

The bind off method I describe here is something I came up with after learning how to do Kitchener stitch (without a tapestry needle) but before I learned there was something called a "faux Kitchener bind off." My method produces a similar result.

Knitter's Math:
Knit a gauge swatch.
Measure your stitches per inch = ______ (A) spi
Measure the circumference of the widest part of your foot (usually the ball) = _____ (B) inches

Calculate number of sts to cast on.
_______(A) x _______ (B) x 0.9 = ______ (C)

Round C to nearest multiple of 4 = _____(D) sts

Measure length of foot = ______ (E) inches

Calculate length of sock: ( _______(E) x 0.9) - 2 = ________ (F) inches (round to nearest 1/4 in)

Pattern:
CO the calculated number of stitches (D) using Magic Cast On. Reserve half stitches on one circular.

Begin short row toe. Knit across until one st remains on the left needle. Turn work. Slip first st purlwise. Making sure there is minimal slack in the working yarn, purl across until one st remains on left needle. Turn work. Making sure there is minimal slack in the working yarn, knit across until two sts remain on the left needle. Turn work. Continue in this manner until you have approximately 1/3 of your sts slipped on the left needle, 1/3 slipped on the right needle, and 1/3 remaining as live stitches in the center of the work...ending with a purl row.

Close short row toe. Turn work. Making sure there is minimal slack in the working yarn, knit across until you reach the first slipped st (one st before the gap). Slip the next stitch knitwise.
Using the right needle lift the bar between the just slipped stitch and the next stitch on the left needle (it will be on the wrong side of the work). Knit these together as if perfoming a SSK. Turn work. Slip the first st purlwise and purl across until you reach the first slipped st (one st before the gap). Slip the next stitch purlwise. Using the right needle, lift the bar between the just slipped stitch and the next stitch on the left needle (it will be on the wrong side of the work). Slip the bar and the slipped stitch from the right needle to the left & p2tog. Turn work. Continue in this manner until no more gaps remain, ending in a purl row. Turn work. You should have one stitch on the right needle and the remaining sts on the left needle.

Close the gaps. In order to close the gaps b/w the toe and foot, slip purlwise the next st on your left needle (there are now 2 sts on the right). Knit across the remaining sts on needle 1 until 1 stitch remains on the left needle. With the right needle moving from front to back, pick up the side of the knit stitch laying below the gap (not the bar b/w sts). Now slip the last live stitch knitwise & perform a SSK. For needle 2, ktbl across needle 2 (1st time only). Count this as Round 1. At the start of Round 2, sl1 purlwise. Then with the right needle moving from back to front, pick up the side of the knit stitch laying below the gap (not the bar b/w sts). Slip these two sts back on the left needle and k2tog. The picked up sts can be pulled tight later and the slack redistributed. Knit a total of 5 rounds.

Begin slip stitch pattern. I am writing this for stripes spaced every 4 sts. The stripe pattern is different in the picture than this because what I did would be confusing & I wanted this pattern to be more "universal." You can adjust where your slipped stitch stripes are depending on how you want your sock to look (i.e. evenly space, thick midline stripe, etc.). You'll just have to work out the math yourself ;)
Round 6: *K2, sl1, k1 repeat from * across needle 1. Knit all sts on needle 2.
Round 7: Knit all stitches.
Repeat Rnd 6 & 7 until work measures F inches.

Begin short row heel. Knit across needle 1. On needle 2, work the heel exactly the same way as the toe (note that the needle #s will be opposite). Close the gaps in the same manner as well while resuming the slip st pattern on needle 1.

Resume leg of sock. Continue repeating Rnds 6 & 7 for 8 more rounds (9 total). On 10th round, knit needle 1 as before. For needle 2, continue the slip stitch stripe pattern.. Work leg until it is the desired height. Work 2x2 ribbing for 1/2 to 2 inches.

Try on sock. Take working yarn and wrap around your leg 3 times. Cut working yarn here. This is the length of yarn you'll need to perform the bind off and not run out. If you are trying to conserve yarn, you can go with 2.5 times instead. You should not need to get another needle to perform this bind off. Make sure stitches are situated so that you are starting with either 2 knit or 2 purl stitches. Be sure to work LOOSELY. Having to pull out this bind off is not fun.

Bind off:

Step 1: Insert right needle into first stitch purlwise. Wrap yarn as if to purl and draw working yarn completely through the stitch (leave this st on the left needle).

Step 2: Insert right needle into second stitch knitwise. Wrap yarn as if to knit and draw working yarn completely through the stitch (leave this st on the left needle).

At this point give the two sts you are binding a gentle separating tug so that they are not too tightly bound together.

Step 3: Loosely wrap yarn from the front around to the back of the sts. You can hold it in place with your left thumb while performing the next step so as to keep everything loose.

Step 4: Insert right needle into first stitch knitwise. Wrap yarn as if to knit and draw working yarn completely through the stitch. Drop this stitch off the needle.

Step 5: Insert right needle into first stitch purlwise. Wrap yarn as if to purl and draw working yarn completely through the stitch. Drop this stitch off the needle.

Repeat steps 1-5 until all sts are bound off.

If you were doing two socks at a time, YOU'RE DONE! If not, go back and start again for sock #2.

Please let me know if you find any errors or points of confusion.

3/13/09: Fixed some typos, added to notes section, and added gap closing instructions b/w heel & foot.
3/17/09: Added note about length of tail when binding off if conserving yarn.
3/19/09: Corrected instructions for closing the gaps on toes & heels.
5/3/09: Edit "Close the gap" instructions.