Microprocessor socks: Knitty Deep Fall 2011

by Heatherly Walker

Being the daughter, wife and sister of computer geeks, I have grown up with the ins and outs of computers being scattered about. The beauty and symmetry of the colors and designs has always fascinated me. Ok, maybe I am a geek as well… My dad would take me with him to Atari BBS conventions in the mid 80’s. I had hi-tech toys like AG Bear that actually “spoke”. It is little wonder that I grew up to have a thing for gadgets. My knitting patterns are stored on my phone and an ereader. I work for a Knitting Software company. One day I may even acquire my own TARDIS.

These socks are made of circuit tiles. The construction features corrugated ribbing on the cuff and a boomerang heel with a clever way of adding a little extra depth than a regular short row heel, for a better fit.

photos: Heatherly Walker


SIZE Baby (9-12 months)[Toddler (18-24 months), Women (US shoe size 7-8), Men (US shoe size 9-10)]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Foot circumference: 4.25[5.5, 8.5, 9.75] inches
Leg length to top of heel: 3[3.5, 6.5, 7.75] inches
Foot length: Adjustable to fit

MATERIALS
Yarn
Silver and purple shown in XS below
[MC] Simply Socks [BFL Superwash; 175 yds per 50g skein]; color: Silver; less than oz
[CC] Simply Socks [BFL Superwash; 175 yds per 50g skein]; color: Purple; less than 1 0z skein

Silver and teal shown in M above
[MC] Simply Socks [BFL Superwash; 175 yds per 50g skein]; color: Silver; 2 skeins
[CC] Simply Socks [BFL Superwash; 175 yds per 50g skein]; color: Teal ; 2 skeins

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 set US #2 /2.75mm double-pointed needles
OR
1 long US #2 /2.75mm circular needles for magic loop
OR
2 US #2 /2.75mm circular needles for 2 circulars method

AND

1 set US #1.5/2.5mm double-pointed needles
OR
1 long US #1.5/2.5mm circular needles for magic loop
OR
2 US #1.5/2.5mm circular needles for 2 circulars method

Notions
Yarn needle

GAUGE

32 sts/40 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch in the round using US #2 needles

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

Working with Multiple colors
To prevent toes getting stuck in the color stranding on the inside of the sock, twist yarns every 3-4 sts where there would be a long float. Here's a tutorial on weaving the floats.

Charts
The charts for this pattern are very large. Each fits on a letter-sized page.
Click the appropriate size below and print each resulting page.

Size XS & S • Size M • Size L

DIRECTIONS
Cuff
Using MC and larger needles, using the long tail method, cast on 42 [50, 72, 84] sts.

Join CC and work 7 [7,7, 10] rounds of corrugated ribbing as follows: With both yarns at back, [k1 CC, bring MC to front, p1 MC, return MC to back] around.

Knit 1 round even in MC.

Leg
For XS, M, L: Work appropriate size Circuitry Chart twice across round.

For S only: [K2, work Circuitry Chart Size XS & S] twice.
Continue as set until chart is complete.

Heel
Note: Keep W&T sts and wraps on tips of needles when knitting them together to prevent stretching and enlarging the gaps.

Heel Step 1
Using MC only and smaller needles.
Row 1 [RS]: K20[24, 35, 41], w&t.
Row 2 [WS]: P19[23, 34, 40], w&t.
Row 3 [RS]: K18[22, 33, 39], w&t.
Row 4 [WS]: P17[21, 32, 38], w&t.
Row 5 [RS]: K16[20, 31, 37], w&t.
Row 6 [WS]: P15[19, 30, 36], w&t.
Row 7 [RS]: K14[18, 29, 35], w&t.
Row 8 [WS]: P13[17, 28, 34], w&t.
Row 9 [RS]: K12[16, 27, 33], w&t.
Row 10 [WS]: P11[15, 26, 32], w&t.
Row 11 [RS]: K10[14, 25, 31], w&t.
Row 12 [WS]: P9[13, 24, 30], w&t.
Row 13 [RS]: K8[12, 23, 29], w&t.
Row 14 [WS]: P7[11, 22, 28], w&t.
Row 15 [RS]: K6[10, 21, 27], w&t.
Row 16 [WS]: P5[9, 20, 26], w&t.
Size XS only: Proceed to Heel Step 2

Row 17 [RS]: K-[8, 19, 25], w&t.
Row 18 [WS]: P-[7, 18, 24], w&t.
Size S only: Proceed to Heel Step 2

Row 19 [RS]: K-[-, 17, 23], w&t.
Row 20 [WS]: P-[-, 16, 22], w&t.
Row 21 [RS]: K-[-, 15, 21], w&t.
Row 22 [WS]: P-[-, 14, 20], w&t.
Row 23 [RS]: K-[-, 13, 19], w&t.
Row 24 [WS]: P-[-, 12, 18], w&t.
Row 25 [RS]: K-[-, 11, 17], w&t.
Row 26 [WS]: P-[-, 10, 16], w&t.
Size M only: Proceed to Heel Step 2

Row 27 [RS]: K-[-, -, 15], w&t.
Row 28 [WS]: P-[-, -, 14], w&t.
Row 29 [RS]: K-[-, -, 13], w&t.
Row 30 [WS]: P-[-, -, 12], w&t.
Row 31 [RS]: K-[-, -, 11], w&t.
Row 32 [WS]: P-[-, -, 10], w&t.
Heel Step 2
In this step we add some extra rounds to add depth to the heel and improve the fit.

Round 1: K5[7, 10, 10], knit next 8[9, 13, 16] sts together with their wraps. You are now at the end of the sole stitches. Knit to the end of the round.

Round 2: K next 8[9, 13, 16] sts together with their wraps, k to end of round.

Knit -[-, 1, 4] more rounds even.

Size M only: K1, m1, k to end of round. 37 sts on instep, 73 sts total.
Heel Step 3
Row 1 [RS]: K13[16, 23, 26], w&t.
Row 2 [WS]: P5[7, 10, 10], w&t.
Row 3 [RS]: K6[8, 11, 11], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row4 [WS]: P7[9, 12, 12], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 5 [RS]: K8[10, 13, 13], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row6 [WS]: P9[11, 14, 14], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 7 [RS]: K10[12, 15, 15], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row8 [WS]: P11[13, 16, 16], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 9 [RS]: K12[14, 17, 17], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row10 [WS]: P13[15, 18, 18], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row11 [RS]: K14[16, 19, 19], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row12 [WS]: P15[17, 20, 20], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 13 [RS]: K16[18, 21, 21], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row14 [WS]: P17[19, 22, 22], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 15 [RS]: K18[20, 23, 23], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row16 [WS]: P19[21, 24, 24], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 17 [RS]: K20[22, 25, 25], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Size XS only: Proceed to Foot.

Row18 [WS]: P-[23, 26, 26], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 19 [RS]: K-[24, 27, 27], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Size S only: Proceed to Foot.

Row20 [WS]: P-[-, 28, 28], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 21 [RS]: K-[-, 29, 29], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row22 [WS]: P-[-, 30, 30], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 23 [RS]: K-[-, 31, 31], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row24 [WS]: P-[-, 32, 32], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 25 [RS]: K-[-, 33, 33], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row26 [WS]: P-[-, 34, 34], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 27 [RS]: K-[-, 35, 35], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Size M only: Proceed to Foot.

Row28 [WS]: P-[-, 34, 36], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 29 [RS]: K-[-, 35, 37], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 30 [WS]: P-[-, 34, 38], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 31 [RS]: K-[-, 35, 39], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 32 [WS]: P-[-, 34, 40], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Row 33 [RS]: K-[-, 35, 41], working wrapped stitch together with its wrap, w&t.
Foot
Change to larger needles. First st of round is double wrapped. Work this stitch together with its wraps at the start of the first Foot round.

Size XS Foot Round: Work Foot Chart XS & S on first half of round, work XS Sole chart across second half of round.
Size S Foot Round: K2, work Foot Chart XS & S on firstT half of round k2 on first half of round; k2 work XS Sole chart to last 2 sts, k2.
Size M Foot Round: K1, starting again at Row 1 work Circuitry Chart M on first half of round, work Sole chart across second half of round.
Size L Foot round: Starting again at Row 1, work Circuitry Chart L on first half of round, work Sole chart across second half of round.

Continue as set until chart is complete.

Cut CC and change to smaller needles. Continue only in MC until foot is 2 inches shorter than desired length.

Toe Decreases
Setup round, size M only: K17, k2tog, k to end of round. 72 sts.

Decrease round: Knit to last 3 sts of sole sts, k2tog, k2, ssk, k to last 3 sts of instep sts, k2tog, k2, ssk knit to end of round. 4 sts decreased.
Knit 1 round even.
Repeat the last 2 rounds 0[3, 6, 7] more times. 26[34, 44, 52] sts.
Work Decrease round 6[4, 6, 8] more times, to 14[18, 20, 20] sts.

FINISHING
Graft or work a three-needle BO to close toe.

Block and weave in ends.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Heatherly Walker, aka Yarn Yenta, lives in Northern California with her husband and 6 children - 5 of whom knit, 2 of them spin, and 2 of them crochet. She spreads the knitting bug wherever she goes. Having infiltrated Favor Software, she taught them to knit and begged them to make a better charting software which she now shares with others.

She can be found on Ravelry as YarnYenta and blogs here.