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Getting socks to fit
those with extra wide ankles or calves can be frustrating.
I’ve tried tension graduation from the
ribbing down to the foot with a bit of success but I still don’t find that I
can get enough extra width in the calf area and I don’t like to loosen tension
in the ribbing too much.
So I got my
mind wrapped around adding more stitches at the ribbing than I normally would and
evenly spacing decrease stitches as I work down toward the heel.
It’s not a quick knit because it involves
moving stitches together after the decreases and transferring stitches from bed
to bed but it works for me and I can get a nice fitting sock for those who need
more fabric in the calf or ankle area.
I work my socks in the
round on my standard gauge machine and ribber from the cuff down with the
ribbing seam up the back of the leg.
The
same can be achieved with a toe up sock, just reverse the shaping from
decreases to increases.
As with any
sock, good measurements are key to a good fitting sock.
I want enough stretch so the fabric is not
stressed but not so loose that the sock bags and won’t stay up in place.
Knitting a flat sock
would be much easier to incorporate the increases and decreases but I don’t
like seams in socks so this is the theory behind my madness and here’s the
method of my madness.
As an example, I’m
using these calculations for socks I made with Cascade Heritage sock yarn at
T5.
Cast on as many stitches and add
evenly spaced decreases as needed to fit the foot you’re knitting for.
9.5” long foot,
9” around foot, 9” around ankle, wide calf
T5 Gauge:
9 sts, 11 rows = 1”
Ribbed Cuff:
1. CO 80 sts, 1x1 rib at
T3+ for 50R,
2. Transfer MB sts to RB
and K1R across at T5.
3. Convert to circular
knitting by transferring outermost 1/4 of total sts from ribber bed to main bed.
Leg:
T5, 114R total in leg.
1. At RC002, 028, 054 and
080, decrease one st on 3
rd st each side of 0 (from outside toward center),
Dec down to 72 sts
(With ribbing seam up the back, work decreases on main bed)
2. Move sts in to fill the empty needles and move the
outermost left hand st from the ribber bed to the left hand outermost empty
needle on the main bed, then move all ribber bed sts one needle to L
(See note 1 below.)
3. After all decreases are
made, move all sts on the ribber bed to center over 0 so the heel is centered
on the back seam, ensuring that there are the same number of sts (36) on each
bed.
(See note 2 below)
4. Knit even to RC114.
Heel, Foot and Toe:
1. Shortrow heel down to
12 sts and back out, with Woolly Nylon.
2. K116R in circular for
foot.
3. Repeat toe as for heel.
NOTE 1, To work
decreases:
- With COR, move sts together to fill holes
at decreases on the main bed,
- Transfer
outermost left hand ribber bed st to outermost left hand main bed empty needle,
- Move
all ribber bed sts one needle to the left. There should be the same number of sts on each bed.
NOTE 2, To center ribber
bed sts on ‘0’ again:
a. With COR, move
all ribber bed sts one needle to the right,
b. Transfer
outermost left hand main bed st to outermost left hand empty ribber bed
needle,
c. Unravel
far right ribber bed stitch and transfer to outermost right hand empty
needle on the
main bed.
d. Repeat the steps in a.
thru c. til same # of sts on ea side of ‘0’ and same # of sts on ea bed.
e. Resume circular
knitting.
EDITED after I received a nice comment
below from Tanya, AKA 'ItMakesYouSmile' from Ravelry.com:
Tanya commented with another good suggestion of how to decrease/increase in the calf area
to fit wide ankles or calves for a longer sock or stocking. She suggested that it might be easier to move
half of the stitches to the ribber bed and make the decreases on both sides of the
open seam line, then rotate back to start the heel and complete the foot.
I’m happy to report
that I had time to play with this and found that for a short sock with only 4
or 5 decreases/increases that the difference was about the same. But I can see the definite time saving advantage
for using her method in a longer sock or stocking. After I got the decreases done, I scrapped
the whole thing off (both beds) and rehung to center the heel section. Another way would be to scrap off or use a Decker comb just the
ribber stitches and transfer them back to the main bed, then either scrap off or
use a Decker comb to convert to circular.
Thank you Tanya, for
giving us another way to do this.
