Rainforest Socks

Strange times have had me slow down a little and reflect. I discovered that I wanted to do something to simplify my life. For that reason this design uses an easy stitch pattern with a 6 stitch repeat. It looks complex but isn't. Instead it provides a satisfyingly intricate effect with very little effort. 

I would like to introduce my latest sock pattern

The Rainforest Socks are worked top down with a short section of 1x1 rib, a stretchy lace ribbed top and a lace pattern all around the leg of the sock. The heel is knitting in a slip stitch pattern creating a heel flap and turned heel with gusset. For the foot, the lace pattern is continued down the top of the foot. The wedge toe is worked in stocking stitch ending with only 12 stitches to graft together. 

It was published in the August 2020 Edition of Addicted to Sock Knitting zine courtesy of @yarn.struck

The yarn was hand dyed by Naomi Cork of @thedyeshack

Layered Colorwork - Knitting Intarsia in the Round

Layered colourwork is a new name for knitting with two strands held together. The tension of both strands is the same. Sometimes the background colour is wrapped to the right of the contrasting colour yarn which hides it, or if it lies to the left of the background yarn it shows through producing an overall mottled effect. It is best suited to a large area of intarsia without any fine detail.

As a sock knitter the question is: “How do I do that in the round”? Essentially it is a special case of intarsia in the round. It is necessary to allow for the fact that even though you have an area of contrasting colour you also use the background yarn to knit it. After experimenting and much research, this is what I have found.

The technique works best if you use a much thinner yarn for the coloured area. For a sock I used 4 ply sock yarn and the heart motif is sock yarn held together with mohair laceweight yarn.

Method 1:

Stranded / intarsia hybrid.

It is possible to knit in the round, however to use bobbins in order to strand across the motif only. There are no strands between the motifs. The strands are kept short by using more than one identical bobbin for each area of colour. I found that the transitions were visible therefore it is best to stagger the area covered using each bobbin. For example you could use the chart below, knitting entirely in the round and two bobbins of coloured yarn for each heart, four in total for the round.

(The orange squares are worked with a second strand of the same colour as the red squares).

Method 2:

yo turn.

At each turn you start the row with a yo, which you decrease with the last stitch of the row using either ssk or p2tog depending on whether it is a knit or purl “row”. My attempt at this was neat and produced a flat join. For a sock leg with 56 (64, 72) sts the instructions would be:

Row 1: P1, k54 (62, 70), p1. Turn.

Row 2: Yo, k1, p54 (62, 70), ssk. Turn.

Row 3: Yo, p1, k54 (62, 70), p2tog. Turn.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until desired length before inserting chart.

Method 3:

Lift a strand from the neighbouring stitch (the last stitch of the row) which you decrease together with the first stitch when turning to purl back. This is very similar to doing a left or right lifted increase and closes the turning gap by joining the start to the end of the “round”. I had difficulty doing this because the strands were too tight. Perhaps with practice, but all in all I gave up on it.

Method 4:

Hide the turning gap with a wrap and turn (or double stitch).

Depending on the yarn you use, the wraps can show, although with the German “double stitch” (DS) method this can be almost invisible and therefore a good choice. In my sample the stitches next to the turn were tight followed by a loose stitch next to that.

If you place the turning point next to your motif, any imperfections will show next to the design you intend to show off, making an end of round on the other side of the sock a better choice.

For the double stitch method and using a turning point at the end of the round, the instructions would look something like this.

For a sock leg with 56 (64, 72) sts.

Row 1: K54 (62, 70), p2, turn.

Row 2: DS, k1, p53 (61, 69), knit the DS through both strands, k1, turn.

Row 3: DS, p1, k53 (61, 69), purl the DS through both strands, p1, turn.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 for 1”, ending with a row 2.

Once you have set this up, you insert the chart twice in the round.

The stitch counts in rows 2 and 3 are correct, as the reverse stocking stitch is worked twice.

Method 5:

Using any method, it is possible to hide irregularities using seam stitches.

As all methods produced at least a minor visible irregularity I wondered if there was a way to optimise. That was when I remembered that traditionally stockings were knitted with a “seam stitch” which is purled. Therese de Dillmont describes the “seam stitch” as follows: “To ensure the right proportions between the several parts of a stocking, the following directions should be attended to. …. When the top part is finished, you make the seam, at the beginning of the first needle of the round, of one, or two purled stitches, or sometimes, a narrow pattern of purled stitches. This marks the middle of the stocking.“ Encyclopedia of Needlework p.178, first published 1886.

In my sock leg the transition from stockinette to reverse stockinette “seam” stitches hides the position where the turn was performed. The turns recede into the leg of the sock.