HEATHER'S "MAGICAL BLUE SOCKS" WITH TUTORIAL - PART TWO

Eeeek...squeals of delight. I finished my "magical blue socks" last night.  However, I won't show you all the photo till I'm finished with the tutorial.

If you want to see part one of my "magical blue ribbed knit socks" tutorial, please click on the link below:
Magical blue ribbed knit socks with tutorial

Today we'll be knitting the ribbed knit cuff part of the sock.  I decided to go with the "stockinette stitch" test swatch when figuring out how many stitches I needed for my ribbed knit cuff.

Why?

Glad you asked.  I don't like slouchy socks, so I wanted to make sure they held up nicely.  So if you remember back to the previous post, my test swatch in stockinette stitch came out to 1" inch = 9 stitches. 

I rounded down to 10" length around the calf, again because I like my socks to fit well.  So 10" inches around multiplied by 9 stitches to the inch = 90 stitches.

When knitting, I like to make sure that I'm working with a number that is a multiple of 4 and 8. It makes the knit piece so much nicer and easier to work with.  In this case, that number is 88 stitches. I always round the number DOWN.

COOL TIP: For added "elasticity" and  strength in your knitted socks, try knitting the initial beginning of the cuff using double pointed needles that are one size SMALLER, then the needles you plan to use for the main portion of your sock project.

So find a set of Size 00 US (1.75 mm) double-pointed knitting needles.

If you're like me, you have about three sets laying around the house.  Just don't sit on them. It hurts. Been there, done that...for real. Ouchie.

Okay, so with your Size 00 US (1.75 mm) double-pointed needles, cast on 88 stitiches.

COOL TIP: For a nice, loose cast on that is not too tight, hold TWO of these double-pointed needles together when casting on your first set of stitches.  As you continue to knit your socks, the tension will tighten up just a bit, and be just perfect.  Otherwise, if you don't do that, you run the risk of it being too tight.

Now that you've cast on the 88 stitches, you want to carefully join it together in the round. Make sure that the stitches are all pointing the same direction, so that you don't end up with one of those mobius-things.

With your Size 00 US (1.75 mm) double-pointed knitting needles, knit a ribbed stitch as follows:

knit 2, purl 2

Knit that around for a total of 7 rows.

At the beginning of Row 8, switch to larger Size 0 US (2 mm) double-pointed knitting needles.  Continue in the knit 2, purl 2 ribbed pattern until the cuff measures 4" inches in length from the top. In this case, you'll continue in this pattern until you complete a total of 50 rows.

I chose a short cuff because I only had one skein of this sock yarn and my feet are gigantic. So I wanted to make sure there was enough yarn to cover both of my feet.  This is why I made the cuff nice and short. Here is what my cuff looks like after I had reached the 4" inch cuff length:

That's enough for today's lesson.  Next time I'll show you how to knit the heel flap and shape the heel.  I've got some cool tips/tricks for doing this, too. Oh and it comes from making many, many mistakes. No matter. I LOVE knitting.

Again, let me know if you have any questions whatsoever. If I need to explain anything in more detail, I'll be happy to do that for you.

With that, I leave you with this photo for the day:

That's a photo of my vintage Foley Sift-chine triple screen sifter. Isn't it CA-UTE? I LOVE vintage stuff. This one is from the 1960s. I purchased it at a yard sale awhile back.

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.  Love and hugs to your day today, Heather