9 to 5 socks, some help with modifications…

Note:  I think this is going to be the last of the posts about my 9 to 5 socks.  I don’t want to bombard you with tons of posts about this pattern!

I’ve had some questions about modifications to the 9 to 5 socks and I wanted to share my suggestions with you.  What follows is also in a clever and pretty PDF document here, just in case you want to print it out. (Those who’ve surfed here can find the post about this pattern here.)

 For a Smaller Sock or a slightly thicker yarn:
Change the number of stitches you cast on to 60.  Redistribute the stitches so that you have 18 stitches on N1, 12 sts on N2, 18 sts on N3 and 12 sts on N4 and work according to the pattern.  Before you begin the heel flap, move stitches as directed in original pattern so that you have 17 sts on N1, 13 sts on N2, 17 sts on N3 and 13 sts on N4.  When working Row one of the heel flap, work the same, except only work the *K1 Sl 1 wyif* portion only 9 times.  To do the heel turn, work the first row as follows:  Knit 14 sts, ssk, k1 turn. Work the remainder of the heel turn as written.  On the round preceding the gusset, work as written, but only twist the stitches that you picked up from the sides of the heel flap.  Work the rest of the sock as written, shortening the sock as necessary.

For a larger sock:
As written in the pattern, the sock has a lot of stretch to it.  If you feel like you need to make the sock larger, add a pattern repeat to the top of the foot.  Cast on 78 stitches.  Redistribute the stitches so that you have 18 sts on N1, 24 sts on N2, 18 sts on N3, and 18 sts on N4 and work the sock according to the pattern.  Before you begin the heel clap, redistribute the sts so that you have 17 sts on N1, 25 sts on N2, 17 sts of N3 and 19 sts on N4.  Work the heel flap as written, lengthening as necessary, picking up an appropriate number of heel stitches when preparing to work the gusset.  Work the rest of the sock as written, lengthening as necessary.

Other ideas for modification:

Allergic to wool?
The sock is worked in a thinner fingering weight sock yarn and so substitutions should be of a similar weight if you intend to work the original pattern.  You can also use a slightly thicker sock yarn (maybe something like Cascade Fixation) and work the pattern modification for the smaller sock.  Gauge is almost everything here.  If you get gauge and you like the yarn, use it.  Also, this pattern really is VERY stretchy and so it can be very forgiving with sizing issues or problems.

What about those # 1.5 US needles?
If you’re looking for needles of that size, you can find them in most yarn stores that have a wide variety of needles.  Knitpicks.com has also started carrying the size.  I liked them for this pattern because it wasn’t much smaller than the US 2s that I’m used too – but not quite so thin and scary as US 1s.  Remember, needle size is less important than gauge – and again, gauge is only almost everything with this pattern – it’s very forgiving with sizing because of it’s stretch.

What about yarns that aren’t a solid color?  Variegateds and hand-dyes?
Try it!  I used a solid yarn because I knew it would photograph well so that I could properly show off the pattern.  I can imagine that the sock would look amazing in an almost-solid color – something that is kettle-dyed and is subtle tones and shades of the same color.

More questions?
Shoot me an email.  My email address is nicole.hindes@gmail.com . You can also come back to the blog at allbuttonedup.wordpress.com.