Argyle Socks

Pattern:

My own

Yarn:

main color = Froehlich Wolle Special Blauband, color 10 (black), [80% wool, 20% nylon], 2 balls,
contrast color = Stahlsche Wolle Socka 50 Sport & Strumpf (apparently 'strumpf' means sock in german), color 9443 (gray/black/white twist), [75% wool, 25% nylon], 1/2 ball

Needles:

Inox US1 (2.25mm) and Addi 2.5mm circs

Size:

Made for a man's size 9 feet

Finished:

February 2006

Comments:

I was inspired to make these socks after seeing the argyle picture in Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns (p91). I mostly just stranded the yarn at the back, but I did weave in the longer floats (anything longer than 5sts). The weaving-in might have made the pattern a touch more puckery, but I didn't want any toes getting caught on the floats.

I made these socks as a birthday present for my father. It only took me a year to finish them. (Lame, huh?) It took so long because I had to rip and reknit them three times (or maybe more, I stopping counting). I had problems getting the stranded argyle part to be wide enough to fit over the heel, but not be too baggy around the ankle. Here's what I ended up doing:
I used 80 sts on 2.5mm ndls for the ribbing (3K2P) and the black part above the pattern. I switched to 2.25mm ndls for the pattern part, then back to 2.5mm for an inch or so of the black. Then, to make the lower part of the ankle fit tighter, I switched back to 2.25mm (and used those for the rest of the sock). In retrospect, I should also have decreased a few sts at the back of the ankle because they are still a little loose there. At the gusset I decreased down to 74sts for the foot part.

I really like the Special Blauband yarn. It's much softer and smoother than the contrast color yarn (the gray). However, I like the marled look of the gray yarn.

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