Arne & Carlos Socks

I began knitting these cute socks back in February. Because when I’d finished knitting the Arne & Carlos Teddy Bear I still had most of a ball of this lovely Regia Design Line Arne & Carlos 3653 Star Night left. I decided to buy an additional ball of the sock yarn to give me enough yarn to knit a pair of socks. I had noticed when I was knitting the bear that the pattern repeat for this sock yarn was very long. So I decided not to worry about having identical matching socks.

I loved the colour of the blue 4ply yarn that I’d used for knitting the bear’s scarf. I’d used up a small amount of Diploma Gold 4ply for the scarf. I wanted the same contrast for the sock heels and toes. The perfect choice was the WYS Signature 4ply Spice Rack – Juniper 157. I always find that it is important to use a sock yarn for my toes and heels as these areas get a lot of friction when I’m wearing my socks. When I finished knitting the socks I still had some of the Arne & Carlos sock yarn leftover from this project so I’m planning to knit a pair of fingerless mitts using the same combination of yarns. I think they’ll be really pretty.

I used the same afterthought heel pattern for knitting the Arne & Carlos Socks as the Kristin Nicholas Socks (post to come later). I just used the contrast yarn for knitting the heels and toes.

Arne & Carlos Socks

Yarn

• 2 x 50g balls of Regia Design Line Arne & Carlos 3653 Star Night
• 1 ball of WYS Signature 4ply – Juniper 157 (I only used a small amount of this yarn so you could use some sock yarn from your stash).

Needles

• 3.25 mm double pointed needle (dpn) for casting on
• 2.75 mm (set of 5) dpns for knitting socks
• tapestry needle for finishing

Tension

• The tension for this sock is 20 rows and 16 stitches / 5cm (2 inch) square in stocking stitch (stockinette). 8 stitches / 2.5cm (1 inch).

Abbreviations

double pointed needle(s) – dpn(s); stitch(es) – st(s); knit – k; purl – p; knit two stitches together – k2tog; yarn over – yo; slip slip knit – ssk; purl two stitches together – p2tog;

Cuff

• Cast on 60 sts using 3.25 mm dpn using the long tail cast on or a different stretchy cast on.
• Join into the round as you knit the first round using 2.75 mm dpns, 15 sts on each needle.
• Knit 14 rounds using k1, p1 ribbing.

Leg

• Knit 52 rounds or you can add more rounds if you would like the sock leg to be longer.

Afterthought heel Set Up

This sock has an afterthought heel. Use about a metre of yarn that contrasts with the sock yarn. It helps to use a smooth yarn as it is then easier to remove later when you’re picking up the stitches for the afterthought heel. This heel uses a little over half of the total stitches – 34 stitches.

• On the next round knit 43 stitches, then knit the next 34 stitches using the waste yarn.
• Go back to where you started knitting with the waste yarn and continue knitting the foot of the sock with the Arne & Carlos sock yarn (you’ll be knitting across the waste yarn stitches first).

Foot

• Knit 48 rounds for the foot.

I go into a lot of detail about knitting the foot and working out how many rounds you will need to knit in my Red Rainbow Socks post.

Classic Toe

• Change to the blue sock yarn.
• Round 1: Needles 1 and 3: k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1; Needles 2 and 4: k1, ssk, k to end of needle.
• Round 2: k
• Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until there are 4 sts on each needle. (16 stitches).
• Making sure that the toe stitches align with the waste yarn that marks where the afterthought heel will be placed, slip the stitches from needle 4 onto needle 1 and the stitches from needle 3 onto needle 2. 8 stitches on each needle.
• Graft the toe stitches using Kitchener Stitch.

The Afterthought Heel

Pick up 17 stitches on each of four double pointed needles and then remove the waste yarn.  Knit the afterthought heel using the blue sock yarn.

• Once the live stitches are on the needles, knit 1 round.
• Then I worked the heel in the same way as for the Classic Toe.
• Round 1: Needles 1 and 3: k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1; Needles 2 and 4: k1, ssk, k to end of needle.
• Round 2: k
• Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until there are 4 sts on each needle. (16 stitches).
• Making sure that the heel stitches align with the toe, slip the stitches from needle 4 onto needle 1 and the stitches from needle 3 onto needle 2. 8 stitches on each needle.
• Graft the toe stitches using Kitchener Stitch.

I love how the heel looks. The blue contrast sock yarn is gorgeous with the patterned sock yarn.

Finishing

Sew in the ends using the tapestry needle. I washed and blocked these socks because I was going to be photographing them. I also do this if the socks I am making are a gift.

But to be honest, if you have made them for yourself, just add them to your sock drawer. You’ll really enjoy wearing these great socks.

The garden is looking beautiful at the moment. Full of blossom and colour from the beautiful hardy geraniums to the luscious paeonies and roses. By early July our garden has a rich pink colour theme and it was lovely being able to photograph the Arne & Carlos Socks in the garden.