I wear sneakers and capris a lot when the weather is warm. I like the comfort the sneakers give but not the stickiness of wearing them without socks.
Usually I wear gym footies. And then one day it dawned on me – this might be the perfect opportunity to wear handknit socks during the warm weather!
I used a cotton yarn with lycra to battle cotton’s tendency to stretch out. A picot hem peeks out of my shoes and the summery floral stitch keeps it interesting to knit.
If anklets aren’t your thing, work a few more repeats before you start the heel.
errata – Sept 8, 2018 added the leg charts and a chart key
Sizes
One size, 8″ in circumference.
Yarn
Crystal Palace Panda Cotton (59% bamboo, 25% cotton, 16% elastic nylon; 182 yards [168 m] / 50 grams); Color lullaby, 2 balls
Needles
US#1 (2.25 mm): 36″ or 48″ circular for magic loop
Gauge
34 sts and 40 rows = 4″ in St st
Notions
Tapestry needle, 1 stitch marker.
Charts
Right Foot Chart
Right Leg Chart
Left Foot Chart
Left Leg Chart
Chart Key
Pattern Notes
The sock is worked from the top down with a picot cuff and short row heel.
If you haven’t worked with a cotton sock yarn before, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- The Panda Cotton yarn has elastic in it, giving the yarn some of the resiliency found in wool yarns. If you’re substituting, try to find another yarn with elastic in it.
- The yarn is very stretchy. I recommend making the sock about 3/4″ shorter than you typically make them. This was my first experience with this yarn and I didn’t do this. Learn from my mistake 😉
- I washed and dried these socks and they fluffed up beautifully!
- These are the softest socks I’ve ever knitted, and as a bonus the long staple length of cotton and bamboo will mean these socks won’t pill like some of the softer 100% merino sock yarns.
Sock
CO 66 sts. Join in the rnd for magic loop.
Knit 5 rnds.
Picot rnd: *yo, k2tog*
Knit 6 rnds
Next rnd (picot fold rnd):Fold cuff down along eyelets with WS facing.(Pickup first st from CO rnd. Knit it together with first st on needle), repeat across rnd.
Knit 2 rnds.
Place removable marker on first st. Work 2 repeats of Lazy Daisy In The Round (left or right).
For the Right Chart, after working Rnd 9, move the end of rnd marker to be between sts 5 and 6 of the first repeat.
For the Left Chart, after working Rnd 9, move the end of rnd marker to be between sts 6 and 7 of the first repeat.
Heel
Work shortrow heel as follows over 33 sts. {see our tutorial on how to knit short rows}
Knit until 1 st rem, w&t, purl until 1 st rem, w&t.
Knit until 1 st bef wrap, w&t, purl until 1 st bef wrap, w&t. Repeat this rnd until there are 12 wrapped sts on each side and 9 sts unwrapped in the center.
Knit until 1 st bef wrap, pickup and knit wrap, w&t, purl until 1 st bef wrap, pickup and purl wrap, w&t. Repeat this rnd until all wraps have been picked up. Subsequent wraps will be double-wrapped. Work double wraps as if they are one.
Foot
Work appropriate foot chart (right or left chart) on instep and St st on sole until foot is approx 1 ¾” shorter than desired length. Six repeats of the Lazy Daisy chart are given to account for all sizes. Only work as much as you need for your foot length. Be sure to read the pattern notes above regarding foot length.
Toe
Next rnd (toe dec rnd): On each needle: k1, ssk, k until 3 sts rem, k2tog, k1; 4 sts dec’d.
Repeat this rnd every other rnd until 34 sts (17 per needle) rem. Then, rep toe dec rnd every rnd until 16 sts (8 per needle) rem.
Finishing
Using kitchener st, graft toe. Break yarn and weave in ends.
About the Designer: Jody Richards
Jody is a lifelong knitter, long-time knit blogger, and the founder of Knotions. When she first got back into knittnig she thought it was the craziest thing in the world to knit socks. Socks? And now she can’t think of a time in the past 5 years when she didn’t have at least 2 pairs on the needles.
Pattern and images © 2009 Jody Richards.
Bella
What is the purpose of moving the marker on row 9?
The marker moves every round because of the decreases. This puts it in a place where it won’t go off the edge for quite a while.
I downloaded your pattern, thanks a lot ! It look so sophisticated…
I’m so glad you like it!