Picture courtesy Anita Sixta
Sample is knit in Bernat worsted weight aran 100% wool, using USsize 4's
Although the original socks I did used Brown Sheep Superwash, I've also made them with other worsted weight yarns, such as Cascade 220 (I used about 60% of two 100g skeins), or by using two strands of sock yarn.
I've even made them for guys - the fit is a little snug around the ankle, but the cable and rib pattern is sufficiently elastic that it seems to be comfortable and not too tight.
I've also done a left-twist cable instead of a right-twist cable - that is, a cable where the stitches are held to the front of the work rather than the back, so it ends up as a right-over-left cable. Sure, it's not a huge variation, but so what? Other cables, twist-stitch, lace, rib, etc., patterns can also be easily substituted.
I saw this cable pattern on a sock that Jennie Corlett brought to a knitlist get-together a while back. I thought it looked great, so made my own sock pattern around it. I've seen this cable pattern (or something very similar) in many stitch treasuries and in many sock pattern books, so I don't think I'm violating anyone's copyright with this. Anyway, here's yet another interpretation of the cabled sock.
Materials:
Brown Sheep Co., Inc., Lamb's Pride Superwash, 100% wool, worsted weight
yarn. The color I used for my first pair was SW56 Rhododendron - a reddish
purple. This yarn comes in 50 gram skeins of approximately 100 yards. I
used about 2.5 skeins for these socks - somewhat more than one skein per
sock. You can probably substitute anything that works up to a similar gauge.
Gauge:
About 5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch. Anything between about
4.5 and 5.5 stitches per inch should work, since the cables and ribbing
give the sock a lot of stretch and cling.
Needles: Whatever size you normally use to knit socks with worsted weight yarn. I used US #5 dpns to get the above gauge, but I'm a fairly loose knitter. I used #2 dpns (i.e. 2-3 sizes smaller) for the ribbing. (With some yarns, I've even gone down to #3's for the body, and #0s or #1s for the ribbing.)
You'll also need a cable needle/stitch holder to make cables with.
Cable Pattern:
Over a multiple of 8 stitches and 4 rounds,
1: *K2, P1, K4, P1*
2: *K2, P1, K4, P1*
3: *K2, P1, slide next two stitches to cable needle and hold them to the back of the work. Knit the next two stitches off the left needle, then knit the two stitches on the cable needle. (This is a 2X2 right-twisting, left-over-right cable.) P1*
4: *K2, P1, K4, P1*
In other words, the pattern is *K2, p1, k4, p1* with a 2x2 right-twist cable done every 4th round, starting with round 3.
The Sock Leg
Cast on 48 stitches on the smaller needles. *K2, P2* for 12 rounds
(about 2"). Switch to the larger needles and start the cable pattern. Continue
in cable pattern until the leg is long enough, ending with round 4 of the
cable pattern. (For me, this is usually after about 10 cable pattern repeats,
about 7" total.)
The Heel
The heel is done on 24 stitches, centered under the cable pattern.
I used the first stitch of the next round, then turned and purled back
until I had 24 stitches - 3 cable repeats. In other words, the first and
last stitches of the heel should both fall under the "k2" part of the cable
pattern. Put the other 24 stitches on a holder or on the other needles.
You can use any stitch you want for the heel, but I used the following pattern, which is a slight variation on the Interweave Sock book's cabled sock heel:
Row 1 (wrong side): Slip 1, K2, p18, K3.
Row 2 (right side): Slip 1, k2, *k1, slip 1*, K3.
Row 3: same as row 1
Row 4: Slip 1, k2, *slip 1, k1*, k3.
This is similar to heel stitch, but the slipped stitches are offset
rather than aligned, and it doesn't have the ribbed look of heel stitch.
The first and last 3 stitches of the heel are in garter stitch,
with a chain selvage.
Do 24-28 rows for the heel (around 2.5" to 3"), depending on how high your instep is. End with a right-side row. The turn the heel:
1: slip 1, p12, p2tog, p1, turn.
2: slip 1, k3, SSK, K1, turn.
3: slip 1, p4, p2tog (across the gap), p1, turn.
4: slip 1, k5, SSK (across the gap), k1, turn.
5: slip 1, p6, p2tog (across the gap), p1, turn.
And so on, until all of the stitches have been used. You'll have 14 stitches left, and you'll have finished with a knit row.
The Gusset
Pick up stitches on the side of the heel, one for every other row (about
12-14 stitches). Pick them up in the chains of the selvage, through the
back loop only. This will make a little
outline-stitch-like ridge decoration at the edge of the heel. Pick
up an extra stitch at the corner of the instep - pick it up through the
stitch below the first stitch of the heel. Then, knit across the
reserved instep stitches in the cable pattern (it should be round 1
of the cable pattern). Pick up another stitch at the corner of the left
instep and pick up stitches on the other side of the heel, just like you
did for the first side. Finish the round and rearrange the needles so that
the round begins in the middle of the heel/foot.
You'll be doing gusset decreases as usual:
Round 1: K around evenly
Round 2: on the first needle, knit to the last 2 stitches, K2tog. Knit the instep in cable pattern. On the last needle, SSK, then knit to the end of the round.
The gusset decrease rounds will correspond with rounds 1 and 3 of the cable pattern. Keep decreasing until you're down to 44 stitches (that will be 10 stitches each on the first and last needles, with 24 on the instep in cable pattern).
A quick note: since we shifted over a stitch when dividing for the heel, the cable pattern on the instep needle(s) will look like *k1, p1, k4, p1, k1* instead of *k2, p1, k4, p1*. You'll know what to do - just stay in pattern.
The Foot
Keep working, with the top in cable pattern and the bottom in stockinette,
until the foot is about 1.75 inches less than the total desired length.
Switch to stockinette stitch. On the first stockinette round, decrease 4 stitches on the instep to bring the total number of stitches down to 40. I think I did "k2, k2tog, (k4, k2tog) 3 times, k2." The toe decreases will start on the next round.
The Toe
Round 1: On the first needle: knit to the last 3 stitches, K2tog, k1.
On the instep needle(s): K1, SSK, knit to the last 3 stitches, K2tog, k1.
On the last needle: K1, SSK, knit to the end.
Round 2: Knit around evenly. Repeat these two rounds until 20 stitches are left. Then, decrease every round until 8 stitches are left. Graft the last 8 stitches together, or run the yarn through them two times and pull snug.
Finish off the ends and make the other sock.