Socksx3

Socks, Socks, Socks – A Yarn Compilation

A big thank you to all the designers on the Knitlist who responded to my email with their yarn’s vital statistics for their socks that appear in the XRX “Socks, Socks, Socks” (Socksx3) book. Not everyone had yardage information for their yarns and, where I could, I included the yardage information as it appears in my current copy of the Patternworks catalog (1999). If you would like to add to this compilation or come across any errors, please let me know. There is a contact form on my “Who?” page.

The Socksx3 page was hosted originally by Socknitters before moving to my geocities website and the original layout and design were graciously provided by Linda Nelson.

Other important resources:

For the owners of the first two printings of the book, XRX posted an errata document on their website. The Errata for Socksx3 is available for download in PDF format.

Judy Gibson’s “Socks, Socks, Socks”-A Book Report, contains the collected advice of people who have knit these socks and it can be found through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine

Updated September 28, 2000

Dez Crawford, pg 67, New Addition

Updated November 21, 1999

Debbie New, pg 90, Correction to stitch gauge

Updated September 22, 1999

Cynthia Dahl, pg 55, Clarification of Yarn Used
Claire Kellogg, pg 11,New Addition
Marilyn Morgan, pg 49, Clarification of Yarn Used

Updated July 20,1999

Liz Clothier,pg 76,Added Row Gauge
Lori Gayle, pg 74,Clarification of Cables Used
Rita Garrity Knudsen, pg 87, New Addition
Katherine Matthews, pg 75, Clarification of Yarn Used for Ribble Socks

Page #/ Designer Name/ Pattern Name

Page 11/ Claire Kellogg/ My Christmas Stocking

Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair, 4oz/190yds) Grey heather (M-03), turf green (M-64), and red baron (M-81). “I think these colors are very bright and cheerful. One needs one 4 oz skein for the main color and less of course for the accents.”

Page 15/ Lorraine Ehrlinger/ Slip Stitch Cuffs That Won’t

Green – Tioga Saxony ;White – Tioga Glacounour “As to yarn, they put the requirements in generic terms. This is good, because specific yarns keep being discontinued. The yarn I used was over 30 years old and bought at a house sale. It is a fingering weight yarn by Tioga.”

Page 38/ Judith Sumner/ Feather & Fan

Socka Cotton (53% Cotton/32% Wool/15% Polyamid-50 grams/238 yds) “I had 100 grams of Socka cotton and had some left when I was done.”

Page 40/ Sheri Franz/ Purl Lace Socks

“I used Socka Cotton yarn (see yarn info under Judith Sumner), but have also made them in wool (specifically Special Blauband).”

Page 41/ Katherine Matthews/ Tipsy Knitter Socks

Fortissima Cotton (75% Cotton/25% Nylon-50 grms/230yds)

Page 49/ Marilyn Morgan/ Tweed Socks

Alice Starmore Scottish Campion (100% wool, 1oz/150yds)

Page 52/ Lucy Neatby/ Travelling Socks

Socka and Socka Colors (75%Wool/25% Polyamid,50gms/222yds)

Socka Hot Pink 9436

Socka Bright Yellow 9439

Socka Colors Space dyed brights 9133 (“Tutti Frutti” in Patternworks)

Page 53/ Debbie New/ Free-Form Socks

Due to the nature of the socks, no specific yarn info available.

Page 55/ Cynthia Dahl/ False Flame Socks

Alice Starmore Scottish Heather (100% Wool, 2oz/120yds)

Page 56/ Vickie Starbuck/ Entrelac Socks

“Spindle spun yarn, fiber was blend of rayon and fine wool, handpainted. I spun a fine singles, and Navajo plyed it to make a sock weight yarn. Navaho plying makes a three ply yarn, but keeps the color areas together so you don’t get a lot of candy caning of colors. The solid colors for the toes and heels are basic sock yarn, Socka I think, a blend of wool and nylon.”

Page 57/ Vickie Starbuck/ Harry’s Socks

“Spindle spun yarn, like the above but a little heavier, still in the range of commercial sock yarn. The fiber is hand painted washable wool fiber. And, the solid colors are a basic sock yarn from the store as above.”

Page 62/ Charlene Abrams/ Bob’s Socks

Yardage similar to Trekking

“As to yarns, they are a range of sock yarns I have in my stash, all typical sock weight wool/nylon 75/25, among them Regia, Fortissima, Ellie Herbie and Junghans-Wolle Freizeit, but I couldn’t tell you which was which. Blauband and Trekking would work too.”

Page 67/ Dez Crawford/ The Ultimate Refootable Sock

I used Paton’s Crepe Wool (superwash) for the socks in the picture. I believe that particular yarn is now out of production, but a good equivalent would be any 4 ply double knitting (or sport) weight superwash wool.

A number of people who have made these socks have made them in various double-knitting weight or sport-weight yarns with excellent results, and I’ve made two pair in other DK weight yarns.

A hard finish yarn as opposed to a fuzzy finish would of course work better.

Page 70/ Judy Gibson/ Butterfly Bow Girls’ Cotton Socks

“Kraemer “Cotton Socks” (75% cotton, 25% polyamide), Farbe 2, Partie 2437 (those are stamped on the label, so one must be the color and the other the lot); balls were 50g, 160m, and the pair took more than one ball, but any fingering-weight cotton yarn would work.

Incidentally, they actually come out rather large for a child, more like a small women’s size.

My original pattern, as I sent it in, is posted on my web page. They rewrote it considerably for publication. The URL for my original version of the Butterfly Bows socks is:

http://www.users.cts.com/crash/j/jgibson/knitting/bowsocks.txt Please note that this is a preliminary version.”

Page 74/ Lori Gayle/ Aran Sandal Socks

“My socks are Aran-style clog socks with fairly traditional cables done in off-white. The cables continue down into the heel flap, and the patterning stops where the front vamp of the clog would begin.

“I used Dale of Norway’s Heilo sport weight wool (50 grms/109 yds) Natural color #0020 for the sample socks. They took about 2 1/2 skeins for the socks as shown, which will fit a woman’s size 7 or 8 shoe size.

“I like using Heilo for cable work because it has lots of elasticity to make cable crossings easier, and its multi-ply structure makes textures stand out in high relief.”

NEW!! 15 July 1999: The instructions for the Cross-Stitch Cable were shortened to fit the space available. Many knitters told me that they had no trouble figuring it out, but for the benefit of others, here is Barbara Walker’s explanation from her first pattern treasury book, adapted for working in the round:

Cross-Stitch Cable (panel of 8 sts)

Round 1: P2, K4, P2.

Round 2: P2, K4 wrapping yarn twice around needle for each knit st, P2.

Round 3: P2, sl 4 wyib [with yarn in back] dropping extra wraps, then with point of left-hand needle pass

first 2 sts over the second 2; return the sts on the right-hand needle to left-hand needle and knit all 4 sts in this crossed order; P2.

Round 4: P2, K4, P2.

MIRROR CABLE: This can be found in Barbara Walker’s third treasury, Charted Knitting Designs. I am sorry to say that I reported the error in the Mirror Cable chart when I got my proof copy, but I guess my notes didn’t make it into the final version.

As someone on the KnitList has already pointed out, Rounds 1, 3, 9, and 11 should all read as P3, K2, P3. If you lightly shade the chart in your book so there are 3 purl sts on each side of the center K2 in these rows, you will match Barbara Walker and the socks in the photograph.

I swatched the chart as shown, and it makes a slightly different but otherwise OK-looking alternative. In some yarns you may not even notice the difference.

Page 75/ Katherine Matthews/ Ribble Socks

Bernat Country Garden DK (100% pure merino wool machine washable, 135 yds/123 mt. 50 gram ball)

Page 76/ Liz Clothier/ Sideways Sox Supreme

Koigu merino sock yarn. (Painter’s Palette: 100% Merino Wool, 50 gms/176 yds) From Bev: “She (Liz) has no idea about the color numbers, except to say that the solid was a purple and the other was a wild mixture of colors.”

NEW! 17 July 1999:

(from Liz to the KnitList)

I just realized that the pattern for the Sideways Sox Supreme (p 76) of the Socks^3 book is missing a very important piece of info — the ROW gauge! Since the sock is done sideways, the row gauge is probably more important that the stitch gauge, since it’s the rows that make up the circumference of the sock.

The row gauge in the original pattern was 11.2 rows/inch over the 4-row stitch pattern (2 rows stockinette, 2 rows seed st). If you get 11-12 stitches/inch, that will give you a sock circumference of about 8″ to 8.5″. The sock fabric does not have a lot of give in that direction so check your row gauge!

The stitch gauge can be 6 to 7 stitches/inch over seed stitch. There is plenty of stretch in that direction, so there’s a little more flexibility in the stitch gauge. Even going up to 7.5 stitches/inch might be OK.

Note that if you get LESS than 6 stitches/inch (say 5 or 5.5 sts/inch) the foot of your sock will be longer.

Page 83/ Kathleen Day/ Popcorn Panache

Finullgarn by Rauma, 2 ply knitting yarn 100% wool 165m/180 yd per 50 gm ball 2 50 gm skeins black color # 459 several yards of each: 4686 pink, 486 dark pink, 4186 teal, 454 lime, 496 purple

Page 84/ Marilyn Buster/ Sunrise Socks

Renaissance Yarns’ Froehlich-Wolle Special Blauband (80% wool, 20% nylon, 50g / approx. 225 yards)

2 skeins #149 Dark blue,(MC) 1 skein each, or partial skeins if you can find them, of the following:

#2020 White #187 Med. blue

#174 Magenta #134 Dark Pink

#128 Lt. Pink #7072 Dark Lavender

#175 Lt. Lavender #58 Yellow-Orange

#7516 Med. Yellow (or if your source still has #57 it is a better choice)

#39 Lt. Yellow #53 Med. Green

“Please Note: The actual Med. yellow and Yellow-Orange in the sock pictured were as follows: The Medium yellow was an old fingering sock yarn I happened to have and I don’t know its source. The dark yellow-orange was a handspun and hand dyed. The color numbers for those two colors above were found after the socks were finished.

***There is an error in the pattern on row 5 under Heel. It says k3tog tbl and it should read p3tog instead. On the knit side you k3tog tbl but on the purl side you p3tog. It makes both sides of the heel look alike.”

Page 87/ Rita Garrity Knudson/ Spring Fever Socks

Dale Baby Ull (100% Merino Wool, machine washable-50 grams/192yds)

Page 88/ Rita Garrity Knudson/ Little Piggy Toes

Dale Baby Ull (100% Merino Wool, machine washable-50 grams/192yds) Piggy noses are made of Sculpey III polymer sculpting clay.

Page 90/ Debbie New/ Maple Swirl Socks

Foxx Fiber undyed cotton. There is an error in the gauge listed in the book: It reads 5 1/4 sts to 2″.

It should read 5 1/4 sts to 1″.

Page 92/ Pat Brunner/ Clock Socks

“Newtons Knits Yarn Country ’50/50 CashWool,’ 4 oz Black;1 oz White. London Yarns ‘Sinflex,’ 20g #108 Copper; 20g #100 Silver.Lincatex ‘Gold Rush,’ 25g #1 Gold. Treadleart ‘Candlelight,’ one 75 yd spool #249423 Rainbow (I actually used some mystery polyester filament from my stash but this would give the same effect); one 75 yd spool #235496 Red.

I used the following threads as carry-alongs with the metallic yarns as reinforcement. The metallic yarns were all of the “knitted tube” type which are very fragile: DMC Embroidery Thread, three 40 m spools #273 Antique Gold; one 40 m spool #283 Light Silver; two 40 m spools #284 Gold.

Froelich Wolle ‘Special’ sock reinforcing yarn, one card Black. (used for reinforcing the heels and toes)

Double pointed knitting needles size 0 and size 1.”

Page 94/ Sharon Philbrick/ Watermelon Socks

“Lion Brand Wool-Ease, one skein Color #112 Red Sprinkles (MC). Small amounts #402 Wheat, #131 Green Sprinkles and small bits of black.”

Page 95/ Debbie New/ Licorice Socks

“‘Bags of Fun’ licorice and tutti fruitti flavoured laces, sold by Woolworths in England. Woolworths’ green laces are now called apple and their yellow is called tutti fruitti. I have not found licorice laces in North America that are as knittable!”

This page was (again) prepared with love for all things sock-related and is now released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.