Another Sock Idea - Socks with a Butterfly Pattern

Happy new year to all of you!

Over the holidays I stayed at home a lot - and knitted socks. So here's another idea for knitted socks, however this exact pattern only works with a stitch count that is a multiple of 12. These socks are knitted top down with a heel flap.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

As in my last blogpost with a sock idea, this is NOT a complete knitting pattern, but just a sketch or rather a stitch pattern (over 12 stitches and 12 rows) that can be used for socks. So this only works for socks with a number of stitches that is a multiple of 12.
For socks there are many general instructions and tutorials around, I have linked to some in the Techniques section of this post.


Materials

• about 60 grams of fingering weight yarn - or yarn where a multiple of 12 stitches is big enough to fit around your ankles
• 3mm knitting needles (I used dpns, but a circular needle works as well with the magic loop method) - or needles where the multiple of 12 stitches fits around your ankles
• slightly bigger needles for a looser CO
• a darning needle to weave in ends

Techniques

• Knitting a sock top down with a flap/gusset heel on dummies.com or in this 6-Part Series of YouTube videos by VeryPink Knits.
• Cabling or crossed stitches (C2F and C2B) without a needle is shown in this YouTube video by Purl Avenue or this YouTube video by MamasStitchery
• Kitchener stitch to finish the toe is shown in this YouTube video by The Crafts Channel

"Instructions"

With the bigger needles CO 60 stitches and join in round.
With smaller needles start knitting.

Knit 12 rounds of p2k2 ribbing.

Then start with the butterfly pattern (see also chart below):
Round 1: k all
Round 2: * k1, C2B, C2F, k7 repeat from *
Round 3: k all
Round 4: * k1, C2F, C2B, k7 repeat from *
Rounds 5, 6, 7: k all
Round 8: * k7, C2B, C2F, k1 repeat from *
Round 9: k all
Round 10: * k7, C2F, C2B, k1 repeat from *
Round 11, 12: k all

Repeat three times then start heel flap over 30 stitches. Turn the heel. Then knit the gusset while continuing the butterfly pattern in front.

When foot is long enough, do toe decreases and graft leftover stitches with kitchener stitch.

Make two.

This post was featured at the Linky Ladies Community Link Party No. 86. Thank you!

An Idea for Knitted Socks

In this frosty winter weather, nice wollen socks are a comfort for cold feet. That's why I am currently knitting socks, socks and even more socks. I also wanted to try a few different techniques for knitting socks. The helix knitting allows for jogless stripes and is great to use up leftovers of sock yarn that are not enough for a complete pair of socks.

This is definitely NOT a complete pattern, but a sketch or idea for a pair of socks that explains some points to pay attention to when knitting socks with this helix knitting technique.




This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


Materials

• about 60 to 70 grams of fingering weight yarn
• 3mm dpns (I usually distribute my stitches on four needles when knitting socks)
• scrap yarn for afterthought heel
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Techniques

• Toe up sock knitting: as explained on dummies.com or in this video by Girly Knits 
• Afterthought heel: Here's a tutorial in three videos by Knit Purl Hunter
• Helix knitting: as shown in this video by Pepperly
• Stretchy BO: for a stretchy BO I usually use this method (as shown by VeryPink Knits), but there are other stretchy BOs as well, e.g. a sewn BO.

"Instructions" or what to bear in mind

Knit a toe in one color and distribute your stitches on four needles. After finishing the toe, skip one needle and start the 2nd color in the middle of the sole side of your sock (see photo on the right hand side).


Knit two needles with the 2nd color, then go back to the 1st color yarn and knit two needles with your 1st color. Switch to the needle where the yarn of the 2nd color is currently and knit two needles from there. Go on alternating between both colors.

For this kind of helix knitting you need a heel that does not rely on rows on the top of the foot. The only heel with this property that I know of is the afterthought heel. Make sure to insert the scrap yarn for the afterthought heel after knitting the two heel needles in one color, i.e. do not insert the scrap yarn for the afterthought heel over a color change.

Then go on with your helix pattern - make sure to end the 2nd color also in the middle of the back of the sock. I used the first color to knit the rib and also to knit the afterthought heel.