March’s Sock – Cape Breton Cables

The yarn, Stretch Socks by Patons, happens to be called Kelp. I fell in love with the colourway; blues and corals mixed with sand. Because the yarn has stretch, your socks can be made with more negative ease than normal. Typically a crocheted sock is made fairly close to your actual measurements, but I took my socks down a size this time and they fit like a glove. One of the side effects of this is that the single crochet stitches spread out a bit and the sock looks a bit like it’s been done in a net stitch, which just adds to it. If you don’t want that effect, then I suggest you use a larger hook or increase your stitch count to only 1/2″ of negative ease.

I have worn these socks several times so far and they feel like I’ve had them for years. For ages, I was reluctant to crochet socks because my earliest attempts based on old sock patterns, were always so uncomfortable. But not these socks, in fact, not any of the socks I’ve posted so far are remotely uncomfortable. These ones especially. I may have to start making myself two pairs each time because they’re in danger of being worn out of existence.

Bear in mind that the cable patterns in this pattern pertain to lefties and not righties, so you’ll have to reverse everything. Walk a mile in our shoes…but do it in really cool socks:D

These socks are worked from the toe up. The toe cap is made in a spiral, the rounds are not joined or turned. Once the toe is made, the rounds are joined and turned so that you are working back and forth. If you continue in a spiral, your cable will move with the spiral and not be straight up and down. In the future, I may make a pair with the toe worked in joined rounds, so that I can have the cable all the way down my foot. Of course, this did not occur to me when I designed this sock, so I guess this means another version is in order, perhaps with a different cable:D

A hole is created for an afterthought heel which is added after the sock body is finished, and a few more rounds in single crochet are worked before front and back posted stitches create ribbing around the back and sides of the ankle, framing the cable. The last row of the cable is not worked in the round, rather, it is started in the round, and joined to the ribbing with a slip stitch as soon as the pattern stitches are worked. This helps to adjust the size of the front of the sock, as single crochet are shorter than double crochet.

Yarn: 2 skeins Paton’s Stretch Socks in Kelp
Hook: 3.25mm
Darning needle
Split ring markers, twist ties, or paper clips – something to mark stitches withGauge: about 6.75 sts/inch (a shade under 7 sts/inch)

Righties take heed!!! You will have to reverse all the twists. If it says left twist, you do a right twist, and vice versa. The rest of it is the same.

Twisted Stitches:

These aren’t actually twisted at all, but like their knitted counterparts, they are traveling stitches that move across fabric.

Twist Right:
This moves your cable to the right. Well, okay, that was stating the obvious. 😀

Work up to the point where the directions say “TWR”. This is worked over the next two stitches. Place a sc in the next stitch, and then work your front posted stitch. As always, do not place a stitch in the sc behind your front posted stitch. Now carry on to the next pattern instructions.

Twist Left:

This moves your cable to the left.

Work up the point where the directions say “TWL”. This is worked over the next two stitches. Work a front posted stitch in the next stitch, skipping the sc directly behind it. Work a sc in the next st after that.
Easy!!!!

Sometimes you will get a TWL followed right away by a TWR. This means that there will be two skipped stitches one right after the other, behind your posted stitches.
Cross Two
This is abbreviated as cr2. It is worked over four stitches. Work up to the point where you see “cr2” in the instructions, then:Skip the first posted stitch and work a front posted tc in the next posted st. Things are really heating up now, aren’t they? Skip the st behind it, and work sc in the next two stitches. Work a final front posted tc around the stitch you skipped. Carry on with the rest of your pattern.

My kingdom for a program that will allow me to use symbols and give you a schematic!!!

……but I will have to leave that for another day when I can afford to drop that kind of money on the software.

FYI for those who have never worked cables: if you don’t skip the stitch behind your front posted/ in front of your back posted stitch, you will make an increase and/or move your cables off from where they should be. So don’t do that.

Interlocking Diamonds Cable:
These are the instructions for the swatch, so ignore the ch 1/turn at the end of the 20 sts when you make your sock…..but do make a little practice swatch to try out the cable before you get right into the sock. This pattern comes from “Crocheted Aran Sweaters”, by Jane Snedden Peever.

If you are working the sock, start on row three of the pattern. If you are making a swatch, start with row one.

Ch 21.

Foundation row: sc in 2nd ch from hk and each across. 20 sc.
Row 2 and all even rows: (wrong side) ch 1/turn, sc across, 20 sc.
Row 3: Ch 1/turn, sc in first 3 sts, FPDC (front post double crochet) around next st in row below, sc in each of next 4 sts, FPDC as before, sc in next 2 sts, FPDC as before, sc in next 4 sts, FPDC as before, sc in last 3 sts. 20 sts.
Row 5: Ch 1/turn, sc in first 3 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in each of last 3 sts.
Row 7: Ch 1/turn, sc in first 4 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in each of next 2 sts, cr2 over next 4 sts, sc in next 2 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in last 4 sts.
Row 9: Ch 1/turn, sc in first 5 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in last 5 sts.
Row 11: Ch 1/turn, sc in first 5 sts, cr2 over next 4 sts, sc in next 2 sts, cr2 over next 4 sts, sc in last 5 sts.
Row 13: Ch 1/turn, sc in first 4 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in last 4 sts.
Row 15: Ch1/turn, sc in first 3 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, cr2 over next 4 sts, sc in next 3 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in last 3 sts.
Row 17: Ch1/turn, sc in first 2 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in last 2 sts.
Row 19: Ch1/turn, sc in first 2 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, TWR over next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, TWL over next 2 sts, sc in last 2 sts.

Repeat rows 4-19 over and over again for the cable pattern.

Shape toe:
Chain 11, flip the foundation chain over, and working in the bottom bumps, sc in first 10 ch, pivot your work, work 10 sc into the top loops of foundation ch. Mark the side stitches, slipping and replacing them as you work. 20sc.

The next stitch after this is the start of your round. Work in a spiral to shape the toe, do not join or turn rnds.
Next row: work inc (2 sc in one st) before and after each marked st.

Next row: work even.

Alternate these rows until your sock has 48 sts (for a size 8-9). Try it on as you go. The yarn is stretchy so this sock can have some negative ease. If the measurement around the ball of your foot is 8″ then you can work until the opening measures 7″ (which would be 3.5″ wide, flattened out)

Set up for cable pattern:

Remove markers and flatten out toe. Isolate the side stitches (they won’t be the marked ones anymore because the markers will move off position and look like yin/yang symbols – this happens when you work in a spiral. It’s all good. When you have isolated one side stitch, count 24 stitches across (assuming that you have 48 sts in your sock) and mark the 24th stitch. From now on, I will be referring to the “front” and “back” of your sock stitches. The front stitches will be the ones that will be situated on the top of your foot and will contain the cable pattern. The back stitches will be on the bottom of your foot when you wear your socks.

The cable pattern is worked over 20 sts, not 24. Therefore, there will be two sc worked on either side of the pattern, in addition to any other stitches. Remember this when you work the pattern and if you think you might forget, move your markers now so that just 20 sts are between them. You will be joining and turning from now on, so it will not be necessary to mark your starting point, unless you want to. The back 24 sts will just be plain sc.

Work 3 rnds of sc, working back and forth, joining the first st to the last with a ss, chaining 1, then turning.

Next rnd: beg pattern row 3 of Interlocking Diamonds Cable.

Keep trying on the sock, when it is long enough, work the heel. Make a note of what pattern row you do this on, so that both your socks will match. For me, the heel shaping was done the second time I worked Row11.

The heel looks a lot lacier in this picture than it actually is. I was trying to hold my jeans out of the way, assume a rather contorted position, and catch my sock in a good light. LOL. It got a little stretched in the process, but it is also worth pointing out that I made my heel narrower on this sock anyway, because I wanted some stretch.

Heel opening:

Work in pattern across the front/top half of the stitches. Make a chain whose number is equivalent to the amount of stitches being worked across the back/bottom stitches. So if your total amount of sts in each round is 48 (like mine) then work across 24 front sts and then chain 24. Skip the back sts, and join your new chain with a ss to the starting sc. If you want a narrower heel, now is the time to fiddle with the numbers. I didn’t actually chain 24. I worked two back sts, chained 20 and then worked the last two back sts in my round because I wanted a narrower heel. Likewise, if you want a wider heel, chain a couple of extra.

Next row: Work in pattern as per normal, working sc into new foundation chain.

Work a few more rows/rounds as per normal and then begin your posted mock ribbing for the cuff. I started mine on the second repetition of Row 17.

Cuff:

Work across your pattern sts and when you get to the second half of your sts, work the mock posted ribbing pattern:

FPDC, dc, FPDC, dc…..across to end, join with ss, and when you turn, work a posted st into a posted st as they appear and a plain dc into a plain dc. On the WS your posted sts will be worked as BPDC.

Continue the cuff until it is the desired length. To finish off:

Last row (mine was the third repetition of Row 11 because I liked the way that pattern row looked as an end off row):

Work across front sts as per normal, keeping to pattern and working any sc’s that are on either side. When you get to the first FPDC, DO NOT CONTINUE. Stop, join with a ss, and fasten off. The reason for this is that sc sts are half the height of the dc sts. This last partial row brings your pattern up to to relatively the same height as the posted ribbing that frames it. If it still looks a little shorter, you can always ss back or just block it until you’re happy…..but I promise no one will be able to tell once they’re on your feet.

Heel:

Attach yarn with RS facing, and work sts evenly into top and bottom of hole, with one extra st on each side. Mark those side sts. Working in rnds that are not joined or turned, work a sc2tog before and after each marker and then work an even round – this is similar to the toe except that we are decreasing now. When you get down to about 16 sts in total, remove your hook, enlarge your working loop so it doesn’t unravel, and turn the sock inside out. Ss the hole closed from the WS.

Weave in ends and enjoy your socks.

PS: the washing instructions for this yarn say to hand wash and air dry. I accidentally on purpose washed and dried them in the machines about three times since I made them and the yarn, albeit a tiny bit fuzzy, is doing just fine.