Wraptor sock : Winter 2013

by Jeny Staiman

Wraptor is the love child of two other knitty sock patterns, Skew and Longitudinal. It's what happens when you take classic sideways sock construction and work it on the bias.

Wraptor is worked in stockinette stitch, and is a compelling way to showcase your favorite self-striping or gradient yarn. Because of its sideways construction, it is less elastic than socks worked in the round. You'll have to wiggle it over your heel, but then it will fit like a second skin.

This pattern does not require expert knitting skills, but it does require strong spatial skills and/or a willingness to trust the pattern's instructions even if they seem wrong to you. If you surrender yourself to the instructions you will quickly see Wraptor's underlying rhythm, but you will probably wonder how it can possibly turn into a sock that will fit you. It will. Trust me -- I've done the math.

Working Wraptor in stockinette using self-striping yarn is but one way to show off this unique sock construction. If you enjoy more texture in your socks, or if you like to have more control over color transitions, Wraptor adapts easily to these kinds of tastes. Check out my Ravelry designer page for some example variations on the theme, as well as some additional visualization tools.

photos: Jeny Staiman


SIZE Four widths and six lengths to choose from, covering shoe sizes US women's 6-12 and US men's 6-11.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Sock foot length: 7.25[7.5, 7.75, 8, 8.5, 8.75, 9] inches
Sock circumference after graft: 7.25[7.75, 8, 8.5] inches
Leg opening: 8[8.25, 8.75, 9.25] inches
Leg height: 7.5 inches from bottom of heel
All measurements incorporate negative ease.

Note: Leg height is set for all sizes. Other measurements are independent of one another -- foot length is set by the cast on number, leg opening and sock circumference are determined by the number of rows.

MATERIALS
Yarn
[MC] Twisted Fiber Art [Tasty yarn base: 80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon; 380 yds per 100g skein]; color: LeCirque self-striping (long repeat); 1 skein
[CC] Twisted Fiber Art [Tasty yarn base: 80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon; 95 yds per 25g mini-skein]; color: Night; 1 mini-skein (You will need only a small amount of CC yarn shortly before the sock is finished.)

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 US #1.5/2.5mm 60-inch circular needle OR 2 32- or 40-inch circular needles
Note: This project is knit back-and-forth over 200+ stitches per row; DPNs are not recommended.

Notions
stitch markers in 5 colors (removable recommended)
yarn needle

GAUGE

32 sts/45 rows = 4 inches in stockinette, and more importantly, row height stretches to at least 6 1/4 inches.
Note: You may be thinking "it's a sock; I don't need to do a gauge swatch." Trust me, you need to knit a swatch if you want this to fit.

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

Judy's Magic Cast On (JMCO) (the way I do it)

Kitchener stitch (grafting)

M1 increases (Elizabeth Zimmermann method)

Short rows and concealing wrapped stitches

Editor's note: Intrigued? We hope so.

If you are familiar with Jeny Staiman's patterns, you know that they are visually rich with detail, and Wraptor is the richest she's ever given us. So much so, in fact, that we decided to give it to you as a pdf instead of our traditional format.

Click here to view the PDF (15 pages). Right-click the link to download the PDF.

Should errata be found, we will update the PDF in pink text and place a note here with the date of the latest version.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

designername Jeny Staiman's techniques and patterns are born from equal parts love for handmade objects, compulsion to take things apart and understand how they work, stubborn determination to conquer or exploit any constraint, and an eccentric habit of knitting in her head all day long.

She blogs here, and you'll also find her on Ravelry.