Free Knitting Pattern: Chipps - Toe Up Striped Sock with a Short Row Heel
March 20, 2013This week I have a special treat for you. Not only do I have a free pattern for a toe up, striped sock with a short row heel, but I also have two tutorial techniques related to this pattern linked below
The first tutorial is how to [carry yarn up when knitting stripes in the round]({% post_url 2013-03-21-knitting-tutorial-carry-yarn %}), which is a technique that works particularly well for these socks and allows you to fully avoid having to weave in dozens of ends when all you want to do is finish your damn project. (In fact, as long as you don’t encounter any knots in your yarn, you’ll only have to weave in four ends per sock. JUST FOUR!)
The second tutorial is for [how to sew elastic in around the sock cuff]({% post_url 2013-03-22-knitting-tutorial-sew-elastic %}), because while I have seen some instructions online for this, none of them have been that satisfactory to me.
Another technique I recommend using when making socks or anything with stripes is jogless color changes as detailed here. This technique is so well explained in the link, that I’m not even going to bother writing up a tutorial for that.
I named these socks after my dear friend/awesome yoga instructor/incredible circus performer Chipp Allard, for whom I made two pairs. Unfortunately I totally forgot to photograph the first pair (a lovely lime green and white combo) before I gave them to him for Christmas and he wore them almost every single day til now. They are holding up well, but certainly not blog-photo-worthy at this juncture :) I’m so happy that he was so pleased that I had to make him another pair, and this time I got photos and took extra notes to get the pattern out to all you lovely folks.
Oh, and just as a little bonus on top of all the goodies mentioned above, these socks do have a little bit of shaping at the top to account for calves.
Sizes
XS, S, M, L. (Made to fit women’s shoe sizes 5-6, 6.5-7.5, 8-9.5, 10-11. If you prefer a tighter or looser sock, you may want to go up or down a size. See finished measurements.)
Finished Measurements
All measurements are made when sock is unstretched. Sock will undergo negative ease when worn which will distort these measurements.
XS: Foot length 8”, foot diameter 7”
S: Foot length 8.5”, foot diameter 7”
M: Foot length 9”, foot diameter 7.5”
L: Foot length 9.5”, foot diameter 7.5”
Materials
Cascade Heritage (75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon), 1 (1, 1, 1) skein MC 5645 Tangerine, 1 (1, 1, 1) skein CC 5623 Navy
Needles
Set of five US 0 (2.0mm) dpns
Notions
Tapestry needle
Gauge
34 sts and 44 rows = 4” unstretched in stockinette stitch
Pattern Notes
M1L:
insert left hand needle into the bar running between sts from front to back, then k tbl.
M1R:
insert left hand needle into the bar running between sts from back to front, then k.
s1 w & t:
on RS row, sl 1 pwise wyif, then wyib place the st back on the left hand needle. Turn work and begin working in the other direction.
On WS row, sl 1 pwise wyib, then wyif place the st back on the left hand needle. Turn work and begin working in the other direction.
Striping Sequence
The number of rows in each stripe is slightly different for each size.
Size XS/S:
K 10 rows CC, followed by 10 rows in MC. Repeat.
Size M:
K 11 rows CC, followed by 11 rows in MC. Repeat.
Size L:
K 12 rows CC, followed by 12 rows in MC. Repeat.
Directions
Toe
Using larger needles and MC, CO 20 (12, 12, 12) sts using figure 8 CO.
rnd 1: *k 1, pm, k 8(4, 4, 4), pm, k 1, repeat from*
Distribute sts evenly across 4 dpns.
rnd 2: *k 1, sl m, M1L, k to m, M1R, sl m, k 1, repeat from *
rnd 3: k
Repeat rnds 2-3 10 (11, 12, 12) more times. 60 (60, 64, 64) sts.
Remove markers. You may want to leave the first marker in to denote the beginning of the rnd.
Foot
Complete five stripes as specified in the pattern notes.
Heel
Using MC, k 5 (5, 6, 7) rnds.
Begin short row heel back and forth across half of the foot sts, which should be parallel to the toe.
Row 1: k to last st, sl 1, w & t
Row 2: p to last st, sl 1, w & t
Row 3: k to last unwrapped st, sl 1, w & t
Row 4: p to last unwrapped st, sl 1, w & t
Repeat rows 3-4 seven more times until there are 9 wrapped sts on each side and 12 (12, 14, 14) sts unwrapped in the middle.
Begin incorporating wrapped sts:
Row 1: k to first wrapped st, k this st together with its wrap, w & t the next st (it will now have two wraps)
Row 2: p to first wrapped st, p this st together with its wrap, w & t the next st (it will now have two wraps)
Row 3: k to the double wrapped st, k this st together with its wraps, w & t the next st
Row 4: p to the double wrapped st, p this st together with its wraps, w & t the next st
Repeat rows 3-4 seven more times. (You will wrap one extra st off of the held instep sts during the last two repeats)
Begin working in rnd.
K 5 more rows in MC, picking up the two wraps and knitting them with their st on the first rnd.
Leg
Continue striping sequence, working 7 stripes ending in a CC stripe.
Begin working leg increases as follows:
setup inc row: k 14 (14, 15, 15) sts, pm, M1L, k2, M1R, pm, k to end.
Subsequent inc rows will be the same, but replace pm with sl m.
Work inc row every 4th row until there are 76 (78, 80, 82) sts, then finish MC stripe. Begin working cuff.
Cuff
Knit one row using MC, then work 9 (9, 10, 11) rows in k1, p1 rib.
Knit one row using CC, then work 9 (9, 10, 11) rows in k1, p1 rib.
Finishing
Weave in ends. Block if desired. Sew elastic into cuffs.
