This sock is started on a US 1.5 (2.5mm) needle and has a very long ribbed cuff that acts to increase circumference, but with a chevron pattern that acts to reduce circumference. I can stop the cuff early if necessary for fit, but still must deal with the chevron pattern. I have a couple of alternatives to increase the size. I can add a purl between the 2 decrease stitches to add a bit of rib (68 stitches) or I can do a K6 instead of a K5 on each side of the chevron (72 stitches). I think I’ll go for the 68 stitch version.
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For this one, I’m going to have to knit most of the way through the first sock in order to get a good fit, before starting the second sock.

Summary

• Cast on 68 using Tilly Buddy’s Very Stretchy Cast on.

• Instead of 1x1 rib for the cuff, I’m using 1x1 twisted rib. It creates a cleaner rib.

• Modified leg pattern for a 68 stitch cast on:
  Round 1: K1, M1R, K5, K2tog, P1, SSK, K5, M1L, K1
  Round 2: K8, P1, K8

• Modified instep pattern for a 68 stitvh cast on:
  Row 1: K1, M1R, K5, K2tog, P1, SSK, K5, M1L, K1
  Row 2: P8, K1, P8

• I was hoping to use Judy’s Magic Cast On as my provisional cast on, but it doesn’t work well when casting on for “continuing” stitches. So I used the crochet provisional cast on.

• Pattern reduction row (foot): Row 1: K1, M1R, K5, CDD, SSK, K5, M1L, K1. The CDD sucks in the P1 and looks like the K2tog in previous and future rows. All follow-on rows use the pattern as defined.

• working the short rows on the sole needle is correct.

• Watch out for the last row. The pattern says to turn the work and then SL1, P2tog. THIS IS CORRECT. You will turn the work and work 2 stitches only of the sole needle on the wrong side. The stitches will then be rearranged so that the 2 worked stitches from the sole needle and the 2 adjacent stitches from the heel needle will be on one needle. The remaining 4 stitches will be on the other needle before grafting begins.

• This is one strange toe! The decreases are split strangely across the toe rounds. I don’t see a purpose in this - no additional benefit to the knitter. It just adds confusion, requiring close attention to the toe.

• There is a problem with the toe markers, but the problem doesn’t present itself until round 3. If you do the K2tog & SSK after the first marker, you will not have 5 stitches + 1 stitch before the end of the repeat. If you look at the picture of the toe, the lines created by these two decreases continue straight down the toe. They do not curve. I am going to ignore the markers and do the decreases so that they line up through row 7.

• The location of the instep SSK in round 10 and round 18 are inconsistent. In round 10 the SSK is the first 2 stitches, in round 18 its stitch 2 and 3 (this is more typical). I’m changing round 10 to conform with round 18.

• The corrected toe pattern follows … see bottom.

• More pictures and discussion can be found at Knitting up an Achilles Heal Sock

Journal

2013-10-03: Cast on 68 using Tilly Buddy’s Very Stretchy Cast on.

2013-10-04: Knit 1st row in 1x1 rib; continue in 1x1 twisted rib. Complete first cuff with 31 rows.

2013-10-05: Complete 24 repeats of leg chart. I added 4 additional repeats here to make up for the 4 repeats i removed from the ribbed cuff. Complete 31 repeats, flat, for foot. This is the part of the foot that sits over the gusset.

2013-10-06: Provisionally cast on 32 stitches and join in the round. Complete row/round 32 and then knit 10 more rounds. On round 9, change the pattern as follows: K1 M1R, K5, CDD, SSK, K5, M1L, K1. All future rounds will use the pattern as written.
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I now have a band of 10 rows from which to base my heel before completing the toe. I am not going to break the yarn from my toe to start the heel since I want the color flow to continue uninterrupted. Rather, I’m going to grab my second ball (I always split my yarn into 2 balls for socks),
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Begin heel and work through first 26 rows of heel shaping (all rows before short rows begin.)
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Complete 15 short rows (yes they do start on the sole side). Complete heel shaping and Kitchener closed. Note: the last row is a wrong side row, working only 2 stitches before rearranging the stitches on the needle for grafting. Moving on to the second sock. I can at least get that sock complete through top of gusset.

2013-10-07: Complete left cuff and leg. Back to right sock: Switched needles to US 1.0 (2.25 mm) and knit 17 rows to complete the foot.

2013-10-08: Complete right toe. Had to correct the toe pattern as I found several errors. I will double check my toe modifications on the second sock.

Complete instep portion of left sock gusset.

2013-10-09: Complete right sock.

Toe Pattern Corrections

Final Foot Round: K sole stitches, K7, pm, K to 7 before end of round (this marker isn’t used, but it is placed by the original pattern instructions), PM, k to end of round. The markers are placed between the k2tog and ssk on both sides of the instep; this placement is more important than the count.
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Toe, Round 1: K to 3 sts before end of sole sts, k2tog, k to 2 stitches before first marker, k2tog, SM, ssk, k5, M1L, k2, m1r, k5, k2tog, SM, ssk, k to end of round. 3 sts decreased.

Round 2: K1, ssk, k to end of round. 1 st decreased.

Round 3: K to 2 sts before first marker, k2tog, SM, ssk, k5, m1L, k2, m1R, k5, k2tog, sm, ssk, k to end of round. 2 sts decreased.

Round 4: K to 3 sts before end of sole sts, k2tog, k to end of round. 1 st decreased.

Round 5: K1, ssk, k to 2 before first marker, k2tog, sm, ssk, k5, m1L, k2, m1R, k5, k2tog, sm, ssk, k to end of round. 3 sts decreased

Round 6: K around.

Round 7: K to 3 sts before end of sole sts, k2tog, k to 2 sts before first marker, k2tog, sm, ssk, k5, m1L, k2, m1R, k5, k2tog, sm, ssk, k to end of round. 3 sts decreased.

Round 8: k1, ssk, k to end of round

Round 9: K around, removing markers.

Round 10: K to 3 sts before end of sole sts, k2tog, k2, ssk, k to 3 sts before end of round, k2tog, k1.

Round 11: K1, ssk, k to end of round.

Rounds 12-17: Repeat rounds 10 & 11

Round 18: k1, ssk, k to 3 sts before end of sole sts, k2tog, k2, ssk, k to 3 sts before end of instep sts, k2tog, k1.

Round 19: K around (I added this round to add a little more length to the toe. You can ignore this row if you want).

Round 20-24: repeat round 18 5 times.

Round 25: k1, ssk, k2tog, k3. STOP HERE. (I’ve altered this round to stop in the middle of the instep. when the stitches are rearranged, you will be correctly setup to Kitchener the toe closed.)

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Rearrange stitches so that each needle has 2 stitches from the sole and 2 stitches from the instep. Graft toe closed. This method is essentially giving you a moccasin toe.

Next Time

• Knit the heel using US 1.0 (2.25 mm). Its a little baggy and this would tighten up the foot. I may also need to extend the gusset. Essentially the gusset as designed is equivelant to a 15 / 16 stitch gusset pickup. I prefer a 17/18/19 stitch pickup.

• Knit a more standard toe which contains the pattern rows of rounds 1,3,5 and 7.