I know I like to knit socks. I know I like to design socks. I was pleasantly surprised recently to find I already have 8 sock designs available on Ravelry (with one more in progress and a further one about to be cast on), and I made a bundle of them on my Ravelry designer page to put them all together. You can find that bundle here.
Some are toe-up, some are top-down, but my favourites are my Short Stack socks.
Some are toe-up, some are top-down, but my favourites are my Short Stack socks.
They are worked toe-up, but there the similarity to regular sock construction ends. I had been trying to think of ways to make socks that would really show off the changing colours of some wild sock yarn in my stash (Wollmeise Twin in Raku Regenbogen) without just going for plain vanilla stocking stitch. I also wondered if it would be possible to make a pair of socks using short rows to create first one side of the sock and then the other.
Having played with the idea in my head for a while I decided just to cast on and see what happened.
The socks start with a short-row toe. Then the foot is formed by working back and forth in rows making short rows without wrapping and turning, or any other method to prevent gaps from forming. Quite the opposite, as the "seam" formed by the turns is a design feature. Once the first side of the foot has been made, more short rows are worked back and forth across the second side to fill the gap and complete the foot. This is where short-colour-change multicoloured yarn really comes into its own. One side of the foot starts with long rows which get shorter. The other side starts with short rows which get longer. Those differing row lengths cause the colours to pool into stripes of different widths on each side of the sock.
Once all the stitches have been worked and the foot is completed, what else could be worked next but, yes you've guessed it, a short row heel! I don't usually use these as I have a high instep and I find it doesn't give me the height I need without a gusset. However, this is where that short row gap comes in useful, allowing the sock to stretch at the instep and really show off the different stripes with that seam in between.
On to the leg now, and the same short row technique is used as on the foot, one side then the other, back and forth. The only part of the sock truly worked in the round is the cuff at the top! The rest is all worked back and forth in very quick short rows.
Having played with the idea in my head for a while I decided just to cast on and see what happened.
The socks start with a short-row toe. Then the foot is formed by working back and forth in rows making short rows without wrapping and turning, or any other method to prevent gaps from forming. Quite the opposite, as the "seam" formed by the turns is a design feature. Once the first side of the foot has been made, more short rows are worked back and forth across the second side to fill the gap and complete the foot. This is where short-colour-change multicoloured yarn really comes into its own. One side of the foot starts with long rows which get shorter. The other side starts with short rows which get longer. Those differing row lengths cause the colours to pool into stripes of different widths on each side of the sock.
Once all the stitches have been worked and the foot is completed, what else could be worked next but, yes you've guessed it, a short row heel! I don't usually use these as I have a high instep and I find it doesn't give me the height I need without a gusset. However, this is where that short row gap comes in useful, allowing the sock to stretch at the instep and really show off the different stripes with that seam in between.
On to the leg now, and the same short row technique is used as on the foot, one side then the other, back and forth. The only part of the sock truly worked in the round is the cuff at the top! The rest is all worked back and forth in very quick short rows.
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