"Half" Linen Stitch

I first came across using a Linen Stitch on the sole stitches for socks here from Knitty. In this pattern it is necessary to work an extra row in the sole stitches for every four rows of instep when knitting in the round. This is because of the density and non-stretch in the Linen Stitch.

I wasn't following the pattern on my Graphite Socks exactly and realised that my Linen Stitch wasn't EVERY row as in the pattern. I was making alternate rows of all knit stitches. This worked well but the stitch was still very "tight". To overcome this problem I used a size larger needle when working my sole stitches. It still required me to make an extra row but only every 16 rows. You may prefer to add the extra  row at lesser intervals than 16 rows. I refer you to the pattern mentioned above as to how this extra row is done.

So my linen stitch for sole stitches works like this on an uneven number of sole stitches only. The instep stitches are worked in pattern/stitches of your choice.

Row 1: K1 [K1, Sl1p wyif] until two sole stitches remain, K2.
Rows 2 and 4: K all sole stitches.
Row 3: [K1 Sl1 wyif] until one sole stitch remains, K 1

Abbreviations and their meaning can be found here

Graphite Socks

80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon... Very nice.

I made the sole in a version of Linen Stitch. I'll write a separate entry to explain.

Traveling Vine panel

These are toe up with shaped arches. Love the bright pink myself. I put a traveling vine panel just on one side of each as it would have been toooo much like a lace sock. Yarn from from my stash purchased in December 2011 from Loopy.

Diamonds on the Sides

I added a 7 stitch diamond panel on each side....looks good. I used this 100% superwash wool from Loopy

Dishcloth

Taking a short  break from the socks to make a dishcloth.

DEA Yarns are located in Levin (north of Wellington in the North Island) so we stopped in on the way to Hawke's Bay about a month ago and bought some unusual yarns... this one is rayon and cotton...so we'll see how it works...

The ultimate in warm tootsies!

Hubby admired the teal coloured ones that went off to Australia that I thought he might like a pair to match the motorcycle....so here they are....wool/silk knitted up on 2.75mm in a standard top up style. 60 sts was just right.