Funky Slouch Socks

Sometimes, it is just fun, to knit something that comes into your mind while you are browsing through your sock yarn stash. I chose to use the richly coloured Kaffe Fasset sock yarn made by Regia but any self striping yarn would work perfectly.

I wanted a project that would be fun to knit and a bit unusual. I’ve been wondering about how to knit a pair of slouch socks for a while. Funky Slouch Socks are the result.

I like to think about how I want the sock to look and make my choices for knitting the heel, toe and where I will place any patterning before I start knitting.

The slouch textural pattern was created by changing the pattern each time the colour in the sock yarn changed. It would work well with any clearly defined striped sock yarn.

I knew that the first colour would need to be ribbed so that the sock would stay up as much as I wanted it to. I didn’t want the sock hanging around my ankles. I wanted gentle slouchy ripples.

My textural choices and the order I used them:

Dark red – knit 1, purl 1 rib
Dark brown – purl (reverse stocking stitch)
Lilac purple – purl (reverse stocking stitch)
Light olive green – knit (stocking stitch)
Dark olive green – moss stitch – round 1: is knit 1, purl 1; round 2: is purl 1, knit 1 – repeat these 2 rows.
Chocolate brown – knit 3, purl 1 rib
Turquoise – knit (stocking stitch)
Sky blue – moss stitch

I used these stitches (although any textural stitches would have worked well) each time the colour showed up in the yarn at the exact colour change, not at the start of the next round (which I have to admit felt a little alien to me).

I cast on 60 stitches and knit the sock using 2.75 mm double pointed needles. I knit the leg to the length that I wanted, a little longer than I normally knit my socks, to allow for the sock having some slouchiness.

I thought about the heel and decided to use the Strong Heel which was originally designed by Gerdine Crawford-Strong. I used the instructions for the ‘Easier Socks with the Strong Heel’ written by Aaron Clark for Fibre Camp Boston. These instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I started on the wider dark brown stripe.

I chose the strong heel because I wanted a heel design that would allow the stripes to continue to ‘flow’ down the length of the sock.

After I finished the strong heel I worked 40 rounds working the textural stitches on the top of the foot and continuing the stocking stitch of the strong heel on the sole. The number of rounds that are knit can be varied depending on your foot size.

I used the paired decrease toe to complete the sock working with 2.5 mm double pointed needles. The sock was finished with the final stitches grafted using kitchener stitch. I like to knit my toes using a smaller sized needles which helps the toe to be a bit stronger.