Pattern #4 from the Feet on the Ground sock collection

Direction: Top/cuff down

Admit it, you don’t like swatching and the thought of doing so for a sock makes you cringe. You’ve knit plenty of socks before and have a “go-to” needle and stitch count you work with. Don’t be lazy. Saying you “always knit socks on size 1s with a 64-stitch cast on” is like saying you would always knit a 200-stitch sweater (in differing patterns) in worsted weight on size 6s. You can’t do that and expect the sweaters to all fit the same. Even yarn weights that are supposedly the same are varying levels of thickness and have different degrees of stretch. We all recognize there’s a lot of variation in fit, stitch, shape, and pattern on sweater. Well, there is for a sock too! If you make the decision not to swatch for a sock be aware that you are also making the decision to spend hours knitting socks may not fit you.

The pattern stitch used for the ankle pulls stitches in tighter, so despite this sock being worked over 72 stitches you may need a larger needle size than normal for that count. I determined my gauge in stockinette (using size 0/2mm needles) to get a 8.25” circumference foot and then went up 2 needle sizes for the leg and started with that. I changed to a smaller size needle when I got to the heel turn.

If you need a wider foot you may continue working with the larger needle after completing the ankle (getting 7.5 sts per inch in stockinette). This would give the 70-stitch foot a circumference of 9.25 inches.