Ruffle Socks- pattern

Sorry about the odd angle of the picture! My husband was caught up in something and didn't hear me yelling that I needed help taking a photo of the ruffly socks. Of course, when he heard me grumbling about how hard it is to take a good photo of ruffles on your own feet, he said  "Well, why didn't you ask for help?"

Yeah. *laughs* Happens in every household right?

These are made using chains and single crochets in crochet stitch, and simple knit stitch (no purling!) worked in the round using dpns.

To make these, you will need:

• A pair of socks! I used Gold Toe socks made of pima cotton with a touch of Spandex, but most any opaque knit turn down socks will work.
• Size 10 crochet cotton thread to match your socks- I used Aunt Lydia's Classic in black
• Red Heart Sashay ruffle yarn- these are made with the color Boogie- one skein will do a few pairs.
• Thread to match the Sashay yarn
• sewing needle
• Size 7 (1.5mm) crochet hook
• Size 8 double pointed needles
• stitch holder or safety pin

Working with ruffle yarn is a bit different. It comes looking like a flat ribbon, but it's a mesh that you stretch out to a wide ruffle. You knit with it by knitting in just the top row of the mesh, it seems complicated, but it's super easy once you start. The only kind of tricky part is finishing it. Because you can't really pull the yarn through the last stitch, you sew the end, and then sew the beginning of the yarn to finish it. 

You'll start by crocheting directly into the top of the sock to create the loops you'll use as a cast on for the knitted ruffle. 

Crocheted Loops:

Insert the hook into the sock about a 1/8th of an inch from the end. Make a slip knot in the thread, and put it on the hook and pull it through. Make a slip stitch, then work a single crochet in the top of the sock cuff right next to it. Chain 5, single crochet about 5 mms away from the first single crochet. The size 8 knitting needles are 5 mms, so about the width of one needle.

Repeat all the way around, on the last chain 5, chain 5 then slip stitch in the first sc. Break off and weave in ends.

Knitted Ruffle:

The fun part! The chains will be your cast on. Since you're working in the round, you want the stitches approximately evenly distributed on the needles. Stitch the needles in like you're sewing, going back and forth in the loops. 

Instead of yarning over, you'll put the needle into the top of the mesh in a loop, then knit it. The top of the mesh is the side that doesn't have a metallic accent. 

Open out the first 12 inches of the Sashay yarn. Using a 4th needle, put it into the crochet loop as if to knit. You start knitting about 4 inches away from the end of the yarn. Pass the knitting needle into a loop on the top of the mesh, and pull the loop through the crochet loop in a normal knit stitch then pull the crochet loop off the needle. Put the needle in the next crochet loop, skip a mesh, and knit the next one. Repeat around, skipping a mesh for each stitch, and pulling the ruffle yarn open as you work. 

When you've worked around all the way, knit the first knit stitch on to the 3rd needle.

Now work a loose bind off, still skipping a mesh on each stitch. 

When you get to the last stitch on the needle, slip the stitch holder into it.

Cut off  the yarn about 4 inches from the end of the knitting. 

For stitching it up, working with doubled thread knotted on one end worked best. Sew into the mesh and the chains between the meshes holding the knot about an inch from the end. Stitch it all the way up to the crochet chain, then pass the needle through the knotted loop and pull tight.Knot it off, and take a few more stitches and knot it off again. Trim the thread, then trim the yarn about a half inch from the stitching. If it doesn't look really neat, don't worry. It will be hidden in the ruffles. Stitch up the beginning end of the yarn the same way.

Repeat for the other sock. 

Quick Tip: The Sashay yarn can be a bit slippery. The first one, I had no problems with, but the second one, the stitches kept slipping off the needles. So I put silicone mini hair elastics on the ends of the needles as I worked. That kept them from slipping off.

Yay! Big deep ruffles on socks, or you could use the same effect on the edges of stretch "magic" type gloves. 

Pink Trimmed Socks Pattern

This is another pattern from my old blog. I originally posted it in November 2005.

(and yes! Those are my legs and that's one of my tattoos!)

You will need:

• Size 4 steel crochet hook (1.75 mm)
• Size 10 cotton (bedspread weight)
• A pair of socks- I like the kind that fold down once.

American terminology throughout.
Abbreviations:

• ch= chain
• sc= single crochet
• sl st= slip stitch
• st= stitch
• dc= double crochet
• tr= treble

A treble is yarn over twice, insert hook in stitch, yo, slip two loops off the hook over the yarn over, yarn over, work off next two loops, yo, work off last 2 loops. 

Round 1: The hook is inserted into the socks for the first round. So start the thread as usual on the hook, then insert the hook into the sock, slip stitch, then make a single crochet in the same hole. Ch 3, sc into the top of the sock a little away from the first sc, repeat around for an odd number of ch 3 loops, then after the last sc, ch 1, dc into first sc to make an even number of loops. Mine had 32 loops total.

Round 2: ch 1, sc in top of the loop you're working in, chain 3, sc in next loop, repeat all the way around until the last loop, then ch 1, dc into first sc from rnd 2.

Round 3: Ch1, sc, chain 5, sc in next loop, repeat all the way around until the final loop space, ch 2, tr in first sc

Round 4: repeat rnd 3

Round 5: ch 1, sc, * 4 tr crochet, ch 2, 4 tr crochet in next ch 5 loop, sc in next ch 5 loop* repeat around until the last loop, 4 tr crochet, ch 2, 4 tr, slipstitch in first sc, end off, weave in ends.