Emily's Basic Circular Socks

YARN:
2 (50 gram) balls of Cascade Fixation (98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic)
NEEDLES:
Two 24'' circular needles, size 5 or 3 (or size to obtain gauge)
GAUGE:
6 sts and 8 rows to 1'' in stockinette
SIZE:
women's (men's) Please note: 2 balls of Fixation will make up to a men's size 10 $ \frac{1}{2}$. For a larger sock than that, you may want to purchase an additional ball of yarn.

Leg

Cast on 48 (56) stitches onto one circular needle. Transfer 24 (28) stitches to second needle by slipping them over. Join the open end by switching the two end stitches: move the first stitch on the back needle to the front needle and the stitch that used to be the first stitch on the front needle to the back needle crossing over the stitch that has already been moved from the back needle. This makes an X that is secure.

Work all rounds in K2, P2 ribbing for 6 (7) inches.

Heel Flap

You will be working the heel flap back and forth on the 24 (28) stitches on one needle.

Row 1: *Sl 1, K1 repeat from * to end of row, TURN

Row 2: Sl 1, purl to end, TURN

Repeat these two rows until heel flap is 2 (2 $ \frac{1}{2}$) inches long. This is 24 rows for the women's sock and 30 for the men's. End with Row 2, the purl row.

Turning Heel

Women's Men's
Row 1: K14, K2tog, K1, TURN (7 sts left on ndl) Row 1: K15, K2tog, K1, TURN (10 sts left on ndl)
Row 2: Sl 1, P5, P2tog, P1, TURN (7 sts left on ndl) Row 2: Sl 1, P3, P2tog, P1, TURN (10 sts left on ndl)
Row 3: Sl 1, K6, K2tog, K1, TURN (5 sts left on ndl) Row 3: Sl 1, K4, K2tog, K1, TURN (8 sts left on ndl)
Row 4: Sl 1, P7, P2tog, P1, TURN (5 sts left on ndl) Row 4: Sl 1, P5, P2tog, P1, TURN (8 sts left on ndl)
Row 5: Sl 1, K8, K2tog, K1, TURN (3 sts left on ndl) Row 5: Sl 1, K6, K2tog, K1, TURN (6 sts left on ndl)
Row 6: Sl 1, P9, P2tog, P1, TURN (3 sts left on ndl) Row 6: Sl 1, P7, P2tog, P1, TURN (6 sts left on ndl)
Row 7: Sl 1, K10, K2tog, K1, TURN (1 st left on ndl) Row 7: Sl 1, K8, K2tog, K1, TURN (4 st left on ndl)
Row 8: Sl 1, P11, P2tog, P1, TURN (1 st left on ndl) Row 8: Sl 1, P9, P2tog, P1, TURN (4 st left on ndl)
Row 9: Sl 1, K12, K2tog, TURN Row 9: Sl 1, K10, K2tog, K1, TURN (2 st left on ndl)
Row 10: Sl 1, P12, P2tog, TURN Row 10: Sl 1, P11, P2tog, P1, TURN (2 st left on ndl)
Row 11: Sl 1, K13 (there are 14 sts on ndl) Row 11: Sl 1, K 12, K2tog, K1, TURN
  Row 12: Sl 1, P 13, P2tog, P1, TURN
  Row 13: Sl 1, knit across (there are 16 stitches on ndl)

Picking Up Gusset Stitches

With the same needle and the right side facing you, pick up and knit 12 (15) stitches along the loops in the heel flap. Pick up one additional stitch in the corner between the heel flap and the instep. You should have 27 (32) on this needle. We will call this needle (with the heel) the Bottom needle and the other needle the Instep needle.

Knit across all the stitches on the Instep needle.

With the Bottom needle and the right side facing you, pick up and knit one stitch in the corner. Pick up and knit 12 (15) stitches in the loops along the other side on the heel flap. Knit across the other stitches on the Bottom needle. You should now have 24 (28) stitches on the Instep needle and 40 (48) on the Bottom needle.

Gusset

ROUND 1

Instep needle: K all stitches.

Bottom needle: K1, SSK, K until 3 stitches before the end of the needle, K2tog, K1

ROUND 2

Instep needle: K all stitches.

Bottom needle: K all stitches.


Repeat these two rounds until there are 24 (28) stitches on each needle. This is 48 (56) stitches total.

Foot

Measuring from the back of the heel (along the bottom of the sock), knit all rounds evenly until foot is 1 $ \frac{1}{2}$ inches short of desired length.

Toe

ROUND 1

Instep needle: K1, SSK, K until there are three stitches left on the needle, K2tog, K1

Bottom needle: K1, SSK, K until there are three stitches left on the needle, K2tog, K1

ROUND 2

Instep needle: K all stitches.

Bottom needle: K all stitches.


Repeat these two rounds 4 (5) times. Then repeat round one 3 (3) more times. You should have 10 (12) on each needle.

Grafting the Toe

Cut yarn leaving a long tail. Thread yarn onto tapestry needle. Line up stitches on the two needles so that they appear side by side with one needle in the back and one in the front.qq

Pull the yarn snug but not tight after each of these stitches:

   Draw yarn purlwise through the first stitch on the front needle and leave that stitch on the needle.

   Draw yarn purlwise through the first stitch on the back needle and remove that stitch from the needle.

   Draw yarn knitwise through the new first stitch on the back needle and leave that stitch on the needle.

   Draw yarn knitwise through the first stitch on the front needle and remove that stitch from the needle.

   Draw yarn purlwise through the new first stitch on the front needle and leave that stitch on the needle.

   Draw yarn purlwise through the first stitch on the back needle and remove that stitch from the needle.

   Draw yarn knitwise through the new first back stitch and leave on.

   Draw yarn knitwise through the first front stitch and remove.

And so on and so forth until all of the stitches have been removed from the needles.

Finishing

Weave in all loose threads.

Revised: October 30, 2003




Copyright ©2003 Emily Ivey, some rights reserved. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.