Trusty Toe Up Socks for Ryan and Free Pattern by Tanis Lavallee

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I knit these Trusty Toe Up Socks for Ryan using a self-striping yarn.

The Trusty Toe Up Socks are a free pattern by Tanis Lavallee. After knitting several top-down Rye Light socks for the toddlers in my life, as well as the Ol’ Reliable Top Down Socks also by Tanis, I decided to try a toe up construction. I especially wanted to make sure that I didn’t run out of yarn knitting for Ryan’s big feet. I used 2.25 mm carbon fibre needles to get gauge and ensure the socks would wear well.

The toe up socks start with Judy’s Magic Cast On, which was indeed magical. This was the first time I used this cast on. You work the cast on with two needles using Magic Loop. I used a video tutorial from Very Pink Knits to make sure I worked it properly. It’s an easy to learn, fast method that starts at the very tip of the toe. It’s completely invisible from both sides, and it can be used with almost any toe-up sock pattern. After a few rounds, you then add the increases for the toe to get up to the foot circumference size.

The pattern uses Magic Loop. This is not my preferred method of knitting small circumferences. However, it was definitely helpful when working the cast on and the first few centimetres of the socks. I found the pattern to be written very clearly, and I was able to make the Magic Loop work. However, once I finished all the increases and knit a few centimetres of the foot, I switched to my preferred dpns.

After finishing the toe increases, you basically knit the socks as a tube all the way up to the top ribbing. However, the pattern includes two options for the heel. I knit an afterthought heel, where I knit a strand of waste yarn where I wanted the heel, then continued with the main yarn. Once I finished the socks, I put the heel stitches back on my needles. Then I cut the waste yarn and knit the heel. I found this very interesting and would be great to add a contrast heel, but it added extra ends to weave in later.

I used Whole Knit n’ Caboodle Striped Sock yarn for these socks. This is an indie-dyed yarn that Ryan bought me from Common Thread Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, New York. The yarn is a blend of merino and nylon, and the colours are beautifully vibrant. Furthermore, the yarn is super soft. I’ve only ever worn knit socks from my Oma, and she used sturdy German sock yarn that was definitely not merino. I’m not sure how hard-wearing the merino will be, but we’ll see. I had to eyeball the size for Ryan because I wanted the socks to be a surprise. I knit these for Ryan for Valentine’s Day. He frequently gets cold feet and works from home, so I wanted him to have cozy socks.

I was nervous about having enough yarn to knit both socks, but I needn’t have worried. I knit 80 rounds for the foot before adding the afterthought heel. Then I knit 60 rounds for the ankle before 16 rounds for the ribbed cuff. However, I had plenty of yarn leftover that I could have knit at least 30 more rounds for each ankle. I guess I can see if there’s enough yarn left to knit Kenji a pair of matching socks!

Check out my other projects using patterns by Tanis Lavallee:

• Gartrell Crew for Kenji
• Ol’ Reliable Top Down Socks

See a bunch of other free sock patterns in our roundup here.

Get the free Trusty Toe Up Sock pattern on Ravelry here.