June’s Sock: Another Basic Pattern

junesock
Originally uploaded by thebretonyarnerie

Before I get started, let me say that I am so so sorry that I am late. I’ve always rolled my eyes at the people who get on their blogs and say, “I’m going through some ‘stuff’ right now, so I won’t be around for a while” and then it happened to me and my ‘stuff’ kept me too preoccupied to make socks. Damn, I suck.

I should probably be spanked – good and hard, with a studded leather belt – oh wait, people I know in real life read this. Scratch the belt part…..ooooooh……scratching……

Who am I kidding, they know I’m not quite right to begin with.

😀

OK, I’ve seen the knitters doing it for a while now – the whole toe up with gusset sock, but I haven ‘t seen a crochet pattern for one. So this is mine.

Edit: of course, now that I’ve made my own pattern, I just recently discovered not one, but three of them elsewhere. LOL. Now that I’ve put this out there in the universe, I’ll probably find ten more before the weekend is through:D

Not only was this an exercise in something new for me, but it was a reminder to check my skein labels, because I purchased two different dye lots. I wasn’t carrying both socks around at once or it would have been immediately apparent. Mental note to me: never make socks from two different dye lots. Thankfully, they will be in my sneakers and no one but me, you, and the hundreds of thousands of members at ravelry.com ever need know what I did. It will be our little secret.

The toe is a departure from my usual toes which tend to be almost pointy. This one is much wider, and a hell of a lot more comfortable. I like the way this heel turns out, because it is a reverse-engineered gusset, there is more room than if it were an afterthought or short-rowed heel. I may keep making them like this, who knows!!!!

2 skeins Paton’s Stretch Socks
2.25mm hook
split ring markers
darning needle
gauge: 6.3 sts=1″

Ch 17, flip the chain and working into the bottom bumps of the foundation chain, sc in 2nd ch from hook and work across. 16 sc.

Pivot chain and work 16 sc across top. Isolate side sts and place markers. You will readjust the markers after each two round sequence so that they are always on the side, not shifting over.

Inc sequence:

Rnd 1: work inc before and after each marked st, for a total of 4 incs per rnd. All other sts work even.
Rnd 2: Work even.

Repeat these two rnds until you have 52 sts (for a US women’s size 9). Basically you take the measurement around the ball of your foot, subtract 3/4″ and work up to that number.

Work even in rnds until the sock foot is 4″ less than the total length of your foot.

Set up for gusset shaping:

Take your two split ring markers and isolate the side sts. Place one marker in the first st to beging the rnd and the 2nd marker in the 26th st, OR in the st that marks the halfway point as per your numbers. Place a split ring marker somewhere on that side of the sock to mark this as the top/instep of your sock. The gusset incs will be worked on the bottom/sole half of your sock.

Rnd one: work across instep sts. Work one st past last marked st. Inc in next st. Work to 2 sts before first marker. Inc in next st, sc in next st.

Rnd two: work even.

Before you begin subsequent inc rnds for the gusset, move the two st markers one st to the left or right, following the direction that you crochet in.

Work this inc sequence until you have 10 incs on either side, for a total of 20 incs. 26 instep sts, 46 sole sts.

Shape the heel:

On the last Gusset Rnd Two, work even across the instep sts as per normal, then work across the sole sts until you have 21 sts left (the total amount of sts inc’d plus 1…..so if you made 8 incs on either side of the gusset, you would work over until you had 17 sts left). Dec across next two sts, work next st, ch 1 and turn. Work back in the other direction until you have 21 sts left, dec over the next two, work the next st, ch1 and turn. Work back toward the stair-step you created, dec over the last st of this short row, and the next unworked st below. You may wish to work a sc3tog that incorporates the side edge of your stair-step, to avoid excessive holes. Work the next st, ch 1 and turn. Continue like this, until you have your original number of sts left, in my case, 26 sole sts.

Note: I am now on my third pair of socks done this way and it has occurred to me to point out something that I had not realized that I’d forgotten: when you get to your second last “pick up” as you shape the heel, you will not go sc2tog across the stair step, sc next st, ch 1, turn, because that next st to sc won’t be there, it will be just the marked st instead, so you’ll do sc2tog, stare at the marked st, wonder if you did something wrong, shrug your shoulders, ch 1 and turn. When you work back, the other way, you’ll be able to sc2tog, sc, and you’ll have your original number of sts. I’ll figure it out. It just means that I have to make another pair of socks. Oh darn……

Continue in the round. You may wish to work sc2tog on the side edges to close off any holes at the top of your shaping. As you work, you will drop the first marker you come to. The last marker you come to can be dropped as well, and you should close this rnd with a ss because there will be a little raised stair step.

Next rnd: ch 3 (does not count as a st), work dc in rnd, decreasing evenly by 2 sts across back of sock, over heel. Join with ss, ch 3 (does not count as st), do not turn. Work a rnd of fpdc, bpdc around, joining and chaining as established. Work until ribbing is about as tall as you like. Fasten off, weave in ends.