Socktoberfest - Sock Design Tutorial

I didn't get as much knitting done over the weekend as I would have liked, but I did manage to finish the knee length sock and take a picture of it on a misshapen leg:

Here's the picture that Kristi took of it in progress again. I like this picture a lot. I will force the hubby to take lots more pictures of the sock on my leg in time for the pattern write-up.

And as promised, a Socktoberfest Tutorial outlining the design process that went into this sock.

Step 1: Inspiration

This particular sock was inspired by pictures of German stockings in some German stitch pattern books that I have. Traditional German stockings can be wonderfully complex and beautiful. After looking at some of the stitch patterns, I realized that the traditional German stockings were knit at a much finer gauge than most handknit socks today. I wanted to capture their beauty and style, but in a simplified modern form.

The books:

Example of a traditional sock. Look at how much more complex it is than mine!

My basic idea was to have a diamond shaped clock pattern (or motif) and then to have two vertical panels starting from the two bottom sides of the diamond. One vertical panel would go straight onto the heel while the other vertical panel would angle farther and farther from the other one and across the top of the foot.

Now that I had the main idea for what I wanted, there were some details I had to sort out.

Step 2: Shaping and sizing.

When designing for yourself, shaping and sizing is much simpler. You only have to worry about one size. You can take measurements, make calculations, and knit away. On the other hand, if you want to make a pattern that will fit various shapes and sizes, a lot more comes into play. For something as simple as a knee high sock, there will be variations in leg lengths and circumferences of all parts of the leg.

For pattern writing, you can either go the super customizable route or the set sizes route. In a customizable pattern, knitters will take specific key measurements and plug that into a chart (or online calculator) to determine how many rows to knit, how often and how many times to decrease, etc. While customizable patterns are nice because you can theoretically get a perfect fit, it can seem like a lot more work and some knitters will prefer having set sizes. In the case of this sock, I chose to go with set sizes with notes on how to tweak the sizing.

In a traditional stocking, the top would begin narrower and expand out to the fullest part of the calf. Because I didn't want to include the complexity of sizing involved with that, I used ribbing for the top 3 inches of the sock to accommodate various widths. Not only is this simpler, it is also more forgiving for fluctuations in gauge. The only shaping in this sock begins below the largest part of the calf.

Here is a bad drawing that shows the traditional shaping that was used vs my simplified shaping. As you can see, it is easier to modify the shape on the right, lengthening where necessary. Also, because the top straight section is ribbed, it will conform to the wearer's leg shape.

Step 3: Stitch patterns

I wanted to use a really awesome motif on this sock, and I couldn't find one in my stitch pattern books that fit the bill, so I played around with it. This is the only thing I actually drew out before knitting. For this sort of thing, charting is absolutely essential. This is the entirety of my notes, written on the back of a half page piece of mail:

The panels are very simple. My only criterion for those was that they had to be something very skinny. There is only so much you can do with a 6 stitch width, and I chose one from the German stitch pattern books that was most "open" and "round". I did consider using different patterns on either side, or using the same pattern mirrored, but in the end I decided using the same panel on both sides accentuated the simplicity and asymmetry of the overall design.

Step 4: Details

After the main components are determined, it's on to the details. This step is really important and for me is what separates the great socks from the good socks. For this particular sock, I considered: ribbing, decrease method and placement, placement of motif, the heel, the top of the foot, and the toe.

For the ribbing, I decided to go with a 1x1 twisted rib because I felt it has a nice German feel to it. Interestingly, it's not very traditional because none of the German sock pictures I saw used it. They were more fond of picot edgings or 2x2 normal rib.

Because this is an asymmetrical design, I couldn't center the decreases around the main panels. Instead, I wanted to use something that would be very simple and not detract from the motif. I chose a purl line faux seam down the back of the sock. I made a note that this had to line up with one of the purls in the ribbing. The decreases are mirrored on each side of the faux seam. The picture makes it look like it's not centered properly, but that is the misshapenness of the fake leg.

Placement of the motif was actually determined by the heel. I wanted the vertical panel to line up just so on the heel. This meant that the motif had to be a straight shot up from there. This is a diagram that shows the placing and how the heel is actually the point that determines where everything else is placed:

For heels, I like a continuation of the pattern. In this particular sock, the vertical panel as well as the purl seam continue down the heel. The panel ends at the turning, and the purl seam ends right after the turning. I considered using the purl faux seam down the length of the foot, but I thought that would be uncomfortable.

The top of the foot is a continuation of the leg, with the diagonal panel angling more across the top of the foot. I wanted the same subtle slope for the leg as well as the foot. And for the toe, I am usually pretty boring. I like the wedge toe.

Step 5: The calculations

After figuring out where everything should be placed, it was time to take some measurements and do a bit of calculating. I calculated the cast-on number, the exact stitch placement for beginning the motif, the rate of decrease, the slope for the angled panel, dividing the stitches for the heel, and the turning of the heel.

Step 6: The pattern write-up

My least favorite part! I haven't written up this pattern quite yet because I generally do that last. I would recommend doing this step before you knit if you are prone to forget any step along the way. The first few pattern write-ups can be daunting. You might be too wordy or not wordy enough. I found working with Knitty to be an excellent way to develop pattern writing skills. Now I have several set templates that I use for patterns, and the process is much faster.

I don't really have much advice for this step except to read a lot of patterns. Also, I let a pattern sit for a week before I go back and double check it. This helps tremendously.