This is my second attempt at Turkish bed socks. This time, I’m going to go down a needle size, to US 2.0 (2.75mm) and I’m going to pickup live stitches as I knit, instead of seaming.

Summary

• Use US 2.0 (2.75mm) needles. I’m using 2 circulars instead of double points.

• Cast on using German Twisted Cast On.

• First time I knit or purl a picked up stitch I knit or purl through the back loop to tighten it up.

• I changed my start of round location for the foot. Since I’m knitting on 2 circular needles, I setup the start of round to be the start of the sole needle.

• I made quite a few changes this time around. See the pattern changes section for detailed changes.

• Adding rows in heel wrap and ankle edging results in more rows around the foot circumference.

• I like the extra reverse garter rows, but wouldn’t add the extra rows to the heel wrap. This pair fits me much better than the last pair.

Pattern Changes

1. Begin. Cast on 43 instead of 42. This was an accident, but since I reduced the needle size, I kept the extra stitch.

2. Ankle Edging. 5 rows of reverse stockinette at the start of the sock. Pattern calls for 3.

3. Heel Wrap. 15 rows of stockinette in the heel wrap section. Pattern calls for 13.

4. Heel Flap. knit 18 + 13 stitches. I put the 18 remaining stitches and the starting 18 stitches on a holder and continued with the 13 heel stitches. The first stitch of each row in the heel flap was slipped to enable picking up stitches required in row 1 & 2.

5. Heel Bottom. Row 1: K 24 (slip remaining stitch and then return 18 stitches to needle. arrange stitches so that the 18 stitches plus the 1 slipped stitch are on the left needle), K2TOG TBL (knitting together the last stitch from the heel and the first stitch from the heel side). Row 2: SL 1, P23 (slip the remaining stitch and then return the 18 stitches to the needle. Arrange stitches so that the 18 side stitches plus the 1 slipped stitch are on the left needle), P2tog (the last heel stitch and the first side stitch). All stitches are now on a single needle. Row 3: SL 1, K 23, K2TOG TBL (last heel and first side stitch). Row 4: SL 1, P 23, P2TOG (last heel and first side stitch). Repeat rows 3 & 4 until all side stitches are used up.

6. Instep Edging. SL1, K24, PU 8 along edge of heel wrap, PU 5 in reverse stockinette band, CO 13 (to match number of stitches in heel flap), PU 5 in reverse stockinette section, PU 8 along edge of heel wrap. Divide stitches so that there are 33 stitches on the sole needle and 31 stitches on the instep needle. The 13 heel stitches and 13 CO stitches should be centered on their respective needle. Knit 5 rows instead of 3 per section 7 of the pattern. The cast on stitches plus the 5 stitches on either side are purled. The remaining stitches are knit.

7. Foot. Knit 24 rounds, with round starting on sole needle.

8. Toe. Row 1: On sole needle, K1, SSK, K * , K2tog, K1; on instep needle, K * . Row 2: Knit round. Row 3: On sole needle, K1, SSK, K * , K2tog, K1; on instep needle, K1, SSK K * , K2tog, K1. Row 4: knit entire round. Repeat rounds 3 & 4 until there are 11 stitches remaining on each needle.

Journal

2012-11-03: Cast on 43 (I ended up with one more than the pattern, so i’m going with it) and do 5 rows of reverse stockinette instead of 3. Knit 15 rows stockinette in the heel wrap section instead of 13. Knit 18+13. Hold first and last 18 stitches on holders. Slip first stitch of heel flap rows.
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For first sock, I did the heel bottom as follows: Row 1- SL 1, K 23, k2tog with the last heel stitch and a saved stitch from the side of the heel; Row 2- SL 1, P23, P2tog with the last heel stitch and a saved stitch from the side of the heel; Repeat rows 1 & 2 until all stitches are used. I like the look of the P2tog join, but not the K2tog join. I’ll use SSK or K2TOG TBL on the next sock.
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Completed instep join and 29 rows of foot.

2012-11-04: Completed toe of first sock. Moved stitches around so that there were 33 on the sock bottom and 31 on the instep. The first toe decrease row decreased only on the sole so that I would have 31 stitches on both needles. Continued decreasing per pattern until there were 11 stitches on each needle. I’ll kitchener the toe once I have the second sock completed.
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Finished foot section of second sock.

2012-11-05: Finished toe of second sock. Time to kitchener!

Next Time

• Cast on an even number of stitches. An odd number requires a bit of fudging since you need to maintain that odd stitch in the center.

• Short row upper heel shaping to make a tighter heel cup

• Shorten heel wrap section and lengthen foot section to account for shorter heel wrap.

Other Bedsocks

• Turkish Bed Socks