Crocheted Socks --Start to Finish

 Ravelry Project Page -Toe Up Sock

I started this project when the Crochet Guild of America ran its first Crochet Along. I have always wanted to try making a pair of socks. I'm not really a sock person (see post about my beaded foot sandals but I'm always interested in learning new techniques and, as always, I love to make stuff!

The CAL (crochet along) was broken down into five tasks and here are my notes and pictures about the project:

Task 1 - Gauge Swatch (no photo) With an 0 steel hook and Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton (multi jacquard, color 405) yarn I was able to get a spot-on gauge both stitch and length (very rare for me!!). However, my swatch was worked back and forth and the pattern is crocheted in the round; my gauge changed once I started working the socks. This proved to be ok in the end because I needed to decrease the number of stitches to fit my foot but my next sock swatch will be worked in the round to get a more accurate gauge.

Task 2 - Toe
This task went really fast and I worked it through all the recommended rounds. I found it difficult to judge the fit of the sock at this point and it wasn't until the next task where I could tell that the toe was too big.

Notes: I started the toe using the slip stitch into the bottom loop of the beginning chain method featured in the book Crocheted Socks! by Janet Rehfeldt and Mary Jane Wood. Also, adjusting the size of the sock would be here and I'd like to figure out a calculation for various foot sizes so that I can easily make socks for family/friends.

Task 3 - Foot
After a few inches of straight work the sock was turning out to be too loose around my foot and I frogged back to row 9 and starting working with 58 stitches for the foot body. The book Crochet Socks! recommends that the sock measure ½" to ¾" inches narrower than the measurement around the ball of the foot and once my sock fit well on my foot my measurement was falling in that range. Because I knew I was going to be crocheting a longer foot than the pattern I should/could have adjusted when I made the top of foot increases. Instead of 4½” up I could have gone 5½" or 6" but I don't really notice a major difference in fit because of this. The length of my sock at the end of Task 3 measured 7½".

Task 4 - Ankle & Cuff
I added 4 stitches to the starting chain that began the ankle/cuff section. Originally, I added 1/2 of the 58 stitches (in keeping with pattern proportions) and tried increasing as I went but this resulted in a tight fit over the ankle so I frogged back and did all my increasing in the starting chain. Other than that this section was straight forward and I look forward to experimenting with different cuffs in future socks.

Note: I began working my sc's in the back loop of the starting chain. I do like the sturdier feature of this technique when working both ends of a chain.

Task 5 - Heel
This went smoothly. I did forget where my ends stopped/began so my heels finish with two different stripes but it wasn't worth frogging.




Misc Notes:

I worked both socks at the same time and kept the striping the same for both socks (this strategy held through the heel where I did not start the second heel in the same spot and so the heels are different -- but who really notices that? LOL)

When I bought the yarn I was told that crocheted socks use more yarn than knitted ones and it was recommended to get two 100 gram balls. This was wise advice because I have big feet and like taller socks. I would never have been able to finish this with one skein.