Not Short on Shortie Socks

Ready for one more pair of shortie socks? It's been a summer full of them!

The very day I cast off the last pair, I cast on a new pair! I found one ball of self-striping yarn in the stash, and got started. I quickly realized that my usual short-row toe was not going to give the best results with the stripes. (If by "quickly" you understand that I knit the toe and then had to take it out.)

So I tried a more common toe that starts at the tip and increases to the full width of the sock. I started with 12 sts (on each needle, 24 total), and quickly increased to 22 (44 total) by increasing one stitch on the right and left of the sole and top every row. Then I increased every other row to 32 (64 total) stitches.

Six days later, I was casting off the first sock. Or almost casting it off. I had started the sock right where the yarn changed from blue to grey and wanted to start the second sock in the same place. Well, I only had five stitches left on the bind off and only had about 2 inches left of blue. Not enough to cast off five stitches and leave an end to start the next sock.

I was stumped for a minute, but then noticed the other end of the ball was dark blue so I used it for the last five stitches. Makes a couple more ends to work in, but I had preserved the colours. Later I noticed that I could have used the tail at the beginning of the sock too. It was longer than normal (and of course blue).

I then cast on the second sock starting at the same grey/blue colour change and hoped it would match the first. This would depend on knitting it the same as the first sock, keeping my tension the same, and the yarn being dyed consistently over six repeats (three for each sock).

And guess what! It worked!

I think I had to make a slight adjustment when I went around the heel to keep the colours the same but it's hardly noticeable.

I made the heel turn a little different, making the short rows from short to long instead of long to short and I didn't like it.

There are little bumps from the short rows and they end up on the bottom of the sole instead of at the edge of the heel. I can't feel it while I'm wearing them but I prefer the look of how I normally do them. Now I know.

I finished with a 1x1 rib. It's a little shorter than I would have done but, as noted, I was constricted by the yarn stripes.

Totally worth it!

I love the muted colours of this stripe. This was a ball of yarn my sister found at a second hand store and passed on to me because she wasn't knitting socks at the time. Then later when she got into socks again, she knit a pair with the same yarn!

These are a little small for me which is a good sign that they will fit the person I'm giving them to. :) At first I was confused about why they were small because I did the usual number of rows before doing the heel, but then realized the new way I did the toe is fewer rows than my usual toe. That would do it!

Project Stats
Started: 22 July '19
Finished: 5 Aug '19
Pattern: none (improvised); toe-up, gusset, heel flap
Materials: Patons North America Kroy Socks Ragg Shades (in Blue Stripe Ragg), 45 g
Ravelry project page: Grey self striping shortie socks

Shorties! Shorties! Shorties!

Last summer I knit my first shortie socks (ankle socks) because I had some yarn that was no more than 50% wool. I thought they would be good for some warmer weather socks. I've enjoyed wearing them, so this summer I started taking any single ball or partial ball of sock yarn I had and knitting them into shorties.

I had one ball of this 50/25/25 wool/bamboo rayon/nylon that I had used a little of for a previous project. Even a full ball is not enough for a pair of socks, so I started some shorties.

I had a little (15 grams of 50) of the same kind of yarn in a contrasting colour

so I figured between the two of them, I would have enough for a pair of ankle socks.

I knit the first sock with no problems, adding a little of the navy in a pattern at the top.

The sock is a little big which is why I'm
grabbing it at the toe. The white string is
how I kept track of the number of rows.

I started the second sock and soon realized I was in a game of yarn chicken. I wasn't quite finished the heel when the yarn ran out:

This is what losing at yarn chicken looks like.

I undid the cast off of the first pair and started knitting with that yarn, unraveling the first sock as I knit the second. When the second sock was knit as far as the first sock had unraveled, I would know that was the most I could get out of the yellow. Of course it wasn't quite that simple because I had to redo the colourwork section, but I got it done (although I did have to knit the last five stitches of one sock with a piece cut off the end from the cast on!)

I changed the pattern around the cuff and knit all of the ribbing in the navy and was able to finish the pair.

It was a wonderful yarn to work with: soft, plush, and cushy. They felt great on my feet, but they were not for me. I made them a little larger and gave them to my younger sister. I had given her a pair last summer but they were too small. I wanted to make that up to her. :)

Project Stats
Started: 27 May '19 / Finished: 4 Jun '19
Pattern: made up as I went
Materials: Serenity Sock Solids by Premier Yarns in Hot Lime DN150-08 (44 grams) and DN150-10 Navy (5 grams)
Ravelry project page: Summer Shortie Socks



I had about half of this skein left after using it for my Water for the Elephants socks.

It's a really satisfying red (simply named "Really Red"). I cast on a new sock the day I cast off the pair above.

I wanted more pattern in this one so I ran three cables up the front of the sock.

I also started matching cables on the bottom of the heel flap so that they lined up with the front cables at the top of the heel.

In order to line up the ribbing with the cable pattern, I had to decrease some stitches, which makes them a little tight going over my heel. Now I know better for next time. These aren't as plush as the pair above, but they're nice to wear. And the crisp cables are very satisfying.

Project Stats
Started: 4 Jun '19 / Finished: 21 Jun '19
Pattern: made it up as I went
Materials: Pagewood Farm Chugiak Hand Dyed Sock in Really Red (55 grams)
Ravelry project page: Red Shortie Socks



I had a little less than two-thirds of this yarn left after using it for my Broken Seed Stitch socks. It was a skein I bought in the Netherlands when I was there with my mom.

I started another pair of shorties with this yarn the day after finishing the red ones above,

this time with one cable running up the side.

Yes, I moved the cable on the second sock so it was a mirror image, going so far as to change the direction of the cable twist as well.

Another plush sock yarn. These are also a little big and I hope they will be big enough for the person I have in mind.

Project Stats
Started: 22 Jun '19 / Finished: 22 Jul '19
Pattern: I made it up
Materials: HPKY (Hand Painted Knitting Yarns) Sock Donegal in "Fire" (47 grams)
Ravelry project page: Shortie Socks



The day these were finished, I found another single skein of sock yarn in the stash and started another pair. I should start calling these potato chip socks.