Don’t miss the Summer Sock KAL with projects from Stories In Stitches 3!
The Key to Sock Size
The key measurement for sock sizing is the ankle & foot circumference. For women’s sock patterns, this is usually sized about 8 inches, for men it’s about 10 inches. But in real life, our ankles are all different circumferences. Usually these two numbers are the same or almost the same but again, in real life that’s not always the case.
When I measure for socks, I put the tape measure loosely around my ankle just above the ankle bone. For my foot, I measure around the widest part of my foot, right over the bone where people get bunions. I don’t stand on the tape measure or do anything else special when I take my foot measurements.
From this key measurement, subtract 1 inch of “negative ease” when knitting for adults and half an inch when knitting for kids, to make the sock smaller than your actual foot so it fits snugly. This assumes that you are knitting with typical sock yarn, and not stranded colorwork. If you are knitting with a much thicker yarn, do not subtract as much from the ankle measurement. If you’re knitting in colorwork, which is much less stretchy than single color knitting, you’ll need your sock to be a little bigger. If you’re knitting k1/p1 or k2/p2 ribbing you almost can’t make a sock too small.
Get the gauge with the stitch and yarn you want to use. This is, of course, best measured from an actual gauge swatch — even better if done in the round rather than flat since that’s how the sock will be knit. When using a yarn not originally meant for socks, use needles a size or two smaller than the ball band calls for. Socks are knitted at a tighter gauge than other garments, to maximize wear. You’ll find that they feel better on your feet that way, too.
The number of stitches to cast on is the magic number, X. Once you’ve got that, you can create an entire pattern. X is the stitch gauge (per inch) multiplied by the ankle circumference, minus 1 inch or half an inch, as the case may be.
For example: If your yarn provides a gauge of 30 sts over 4 inches, divide by 4 to get the number of stitches to the inch (7.5 sts). Then multiply this number by the ankle circumference less 1 inch. So for someone with an 8″ ankle: who wants a 7″ sock:
7.5 sts per inch * 7 inches = 52 sts
The number of stitches you cast on will also be determined somewhat by the ribbing you want to do. K1 p1 rib requires an even number of stitches; k2 p2 rib requires that the number of stitches be divisible by 4.
That’s it for today. I hope I didn’t give anyone a headache by introducing X into the equation to give you nightmares of high school algebra class. We won’t be solving for X or doing the quadratic equation here. For socks, if you can divide by 2 and 3, you are good to go. But we’ll save those heavy duty calculations for the next post.
Don’t miss the Summer Sock KAL with projects from Stories In Stitches 3!
Experience level – advanced beginner
After I finished my Arctic Lace Knitting Book, I finally allowed myself to explore the world of lace knitting and discovered that is is much more varied and elaborate than I could have imagined. Around the world and over time, knitters in different countries and regions have developed unique styles of lace knitting that range from easy-intermediate (like the knitting of the Oomingmak knitters) to advanced-insanely- difficult (like some of the Victorian patterns designed by English knitters). Other lace styles are used in Estonia, Russia, South America, Lithuania, Germany and Austria, and New Zealand. I’m sure there are even more, but these are the styles I’ve explored so far. – Donna Druchunas –
Experience: All skill levels, basic knitting skills required.
Have you ever wondered why some people can read charts easily and others find them incomprehensible? The truth is, charts are written in a code that can be deciphered by knitters who learn the symbols on the page and in their knitting. Charts do not use arbitrary symbols, but each symbol includes the instructions on how to make the indicated stitch! In this class, you will learn the secrets of interpreting chart symbols for texture and cable stitches.
