Ben wanted some colourful “hippy socks” for weekend sitting around.
He got more “Hippy” than he bargained for!!
Zing!
These are the Hexagon socks from Knit Outside the Sox, the book I showed you in my Ally Pally Post.
This book…
There are a dozen patterns in this book I want to make but, true to form, I of course wanted to make the ones on the cover!
Ben loved the interlocking Hexagons and wanted a yarn that highlighted them. (He also loved one of the pattern guides in the book which, to him, looked like a wargame battle map!)
Advance green forces to orange and yellow targets!!!
After perusing my sock yarn stash he first chose some blue Regia but we quickly decided it was going to be way too subtle..
Nice but doesn’t highlight the hexagons
Then he chose the Sirdar Heart & Sole I picked up at Ally Pally…
This yarn…
Ohhh “Striking”, says Susan
I should mention that one 100g ball (448yd) wasn’t enough – I just got the Hexagons for both feet out of the 100g ball and had to buy a second ball for the toes and cuff 🙁 Plenty left for a plain pair for my tiny feet though.
So, I was off – picking up stitches from previous Hexagons and building up a sock shape.
The hexagons are made one at a time, working outside in, on 4 needles, 2 sides of a hexagon on each of the 3 needles and the forth to knit with… like this
Stitch markers mark the middle wher the point is between 2 sides. I found it really useful to have a different colour stitch maker on the “Last side” so I didn’t just go round and round 🙂
The design is really clever – a combination of plain stocking stitch hexagons on the sole and heel and funky hexagons with a few purl rows on the leg and top of the foot (you can mix and match to suit you but I stayed with the pattern). The heel was a bit of a mind bender but I fathomed it out by cutting out a photocopy of that diagram and sellotaping it together so I could see how it worked!! (I recommend this if you are struggling 🙂 )
The toe is picked up after you made the hexagony body of the sock – I didn’t worry about making the hexagons match sock to sock but I did get the toes and cuffs to match so looked something like a pair!
matching green/blue toes…
The cuffs at the top were a little problematic. Took me three attempts to find a cuff I was happy with.
Attempt one:
How the pattern is written, in garter stitch, with increases and decreases to follow the zig-zag looked great except it flared outward . Ben said it, “Looks like I’m wearing a flowerpot!”
Flowerpottish…
Attempt two:
Better-I picked up the same stitches and just did a rib. Boring and didn’t match anything else in the sock.
Meh.
Attempt three:
I cracked it. I did the same increases and decreases to follow the zig-zags but used rib instead of garter stitch. Happy with this!!
wiggly rib
I found these tremendous fun to make. The colours are crazy and Ben loves them. He even got carried away as a foot model! (Just so you know those hair legs are not mine… 😮 )
posing
Walking away…
the boring shot.
Hippy hexagons
| Completed Knit Report | ||
| Name: | Hexagon Socks | |
| Pattern: | Hexagons by Kirsten Hall | |
| Yarn: | Sirdar Heart & Sole | |
| Pattern Problems: | The cuff flared (possibly because of Ben’s skinny legs) and I needed a second ball of yarn (possibly because Ben has big feet!) | |
| Pattern Modifications: | Changed the cuff to a rib | |
| Washing and Wearing: | “Too early to say”,says Ben, “but they fit well” | |
| Knit It Again???: | Very possibly | |
| Difficulty: | Quite tricky techniques but nothing insurmountable | |
| Rating: | 4/5 | |
| Other Postings Relating To This One: | Ally Pally Post. | |
Wow, they are great. They look so good.
Glad you clarified about the hairy legs though, I was a bit concerned that you were turning into a hairy monster.
Wow, they are special socks! Lucky Ben.
Very
Very eye catching…..you need to knit another pair Susan…..as you will have great difficulty in “removing/washing”….he obviously loves them!
I am intrigued by that pattern, it is fabulous! Glad you don’t need to spend a week in a waxing salon!!!
These are awesome! What fun weekend socks!
Great Socks! I’m knitting them myself. When I stick to 3 rounds of Hexagons for the foot it becomes too long and 2 rows would be too short! Would you have a suggestion as how to shorten the foot?
Thanks! I made them some time ago so relying on memory – I don’t think there is an easy way to shorten the hexagons without changing ingredients the overall size of the sock. I would make it shorter (Less hexagons)and knit the toe cap longer. Hope that helps.