Hermione’s Everyday Socks

My first thought about doing socks is, “Ugh… they take foreeeeever…”  And it feels like forever as I work away on size ones, two at time.  But, honestly, this pair only took a few days from start to finish.
Granted, it was a few days of being sick on the couch and thinking why not work for hours on size 1 needles, it can’t get any worse.  But, still, just a few days of this.  They’re Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder and, for all of my whining, I really love how they turned out.

I haven’t knit many socks.  I don’t have a personal sock recipe.  The second I finished using Judy’s Magic Cast-on for toe up socks, I instantly forgot what I had just done.  So when I saw that Sarah of KnitYorkCity was doing the Jill Draper Makes Stuff Sockalong hosted by Kollabora, I thought maybe it was time to use some stash and try another pair.

So I did.  Then I did, again.  It was worth the re-knit.  I mean, this is a cool weather knit that I can wear right now since my feet are perpetually cold.  I also got to experiment with contrasting heels and toes like so many projects I’ve seen.

My mods won’t really be useful to you unless you want to make your socks smaller or want to change the heel and toe color.  Mainly, I’m writing this out for my personal use because a blog post beats a crumpled napkin note any day.

Here’s how I did it:

With a long size 1 circular, I cast on 52 sts and positioned them onto a long circular for magic loop. Then I cast on another 52 sts on a different needle and transferred them to my first needle, distributing them evenly next to the first cast on stitches for two at a time.  I’m sure there’s a fast way to do this but I didn’t google it.  I was way too busy fumbling around with this.

I worked in pattern to the heel.
At the heel flap, I made sure I had 26 stitches of each sock on each needle.  With WS facing me, I joined a contrast color.

I joined my contrasting color yarn and worked one heel flap at a time (It would be easier to just do both at once but I didn’t feel like dividing the little ball of yarn for this.)
I worked 8 heel flap pattern repeats but probably should have only done 7 since my stitch and row gauge was off.

To turn the heel with fewer stitches than in the pattern I did this: Sl 1, p12, p2 tog, p1, turn.  Then sl 1, k3, ssk, k1, turn, and continue until all stitches have been worked, as the pattern directs.

I repositioned my socks as needed to have half of each sock on each needle.  With RS facing, I rejoined the main color yarn, worked across the heel flap, picked up 16 sts, plus one extra, along side of the flap for the gusset (17 total) and worked across instep to pick up the same amount on the other side.  If I work a shorter heel flap next time I’ll only pick up a total of 15 sts along sides for gusset.

I did the two repeating gusset rows until I had 26 sts left for heel and gusset.  Then I worked on in pattern, keeping the sole stockinette.

For the toe I rejoined the contrast color and worked as directed through round 10.  Then I worked one more decrease round, leaving 10 sts on each needle.  Then I used Kitchener’s as directed.

Since I decided to use a contrast color in these after I’d done the ribbing I wanted to add a little contrast to the top edge of the socks.  I used a small crochet hook and did a single crochet stitch into every stitch around the top.  I stretched the ribbing periodically as I worked so that the crochet wouldn’t keep it from stretching around my foot later.  I like the little added touch of color.

-Next time I’ll work them toe up and check the fit incessantly.
-I probably won’t use a striping yarn like Magic Stripes and Stroll Tonal, on such a textured pattern because the coolness of the texture is lost in all the color.

-I may work fewer “knit all” rows in the toe and may even cast on 48 sts, or something.

-and taking photos of socks while you wear them is hard.

I can’t quit looking at these.  That’s why you get to see four million photos of them.  My husband even seems to be eyeing my warm feet with envy.  Could it be that I’ve found the perfect handmade Christmas present for a man that never wears substantial knits?