Knitted Sock Foot for Crocheters

I have a friend who crochets and wants to make socks, but can't get past making the sole. So I decided to knit her a pair of trainer socks with eyelet banding round the cuff, so she can crochet through the eyelets and add her own longer crocheted cuff. The stitch pattern is a very stretchy smocking, which is perfect for when you don't know someone's exact shoe size. I've included two sizes width-wise, and you can just keep repeating the pattern to make the foot longer.

This is a pretty straightforward sock pattern, but I have assumed you have the following skills:

• toe up cast on method of your choice
• short row heel of your choice (I used the Fish Lips Kiss heel, which I haven't included as it's a paid for pattern) - you could also do an afterthought heel if preferred
• stretchy bind off of your choice

• 100g 4 ply sock yarn (I used about 42g/180m of Frida's Mexican Fiesta by The Yarn Artist, and saved the rest to give to my friend with the socks)
• 2.25mm circular needles
• scissors
• darning needle

Cast on 24 stitches over each end of your circular needle, using Turkish, figure of 8 (pictured) or Judy's Magic cast on.

Knit 2 rounds.

(k1, m1, k to last stitch on needle, m1, k1) twice, k 1 round. Repeat these 2 rows to 56 (64) stitches.

Move start of round back two stitches, and begin following the chart - you should have 30 (34) stitches on the top half of the foot now. For the larger size, add in one extra repeat to the chart.

To work the smocked stitches, when you reach the cluster of three stitches to be smocked you need to put the right hand needle into the gap between the third stitch (a twisted one) and the fourth (a purl) on the left needle, from front to back. Pull a loop through with the working yarn, and place and tighten the loop on the left needle, next to the first stitch in the cluster of three. Knit the loop together with the first twisted stitch, reducing it back down to one stitch transferred onto the right hand needle as normal (you don't need to worry about making this decrease twisted, you really won't see it). Purl the next stitch and knit the next one through the back loop - you should have worked all three stitches in the cluster, and have them cinched together.

I worked the chart 6 1/2 times (13 smocked stitches), before doing the heel.

I worked a Fish Lips Kiss heel, making sure to move the 2 stitches I borrowed for the beginning of round back to being the last 2 stitches of the sole. I had 32 sole stitches, and halfway through the heel my wrap-centre-wrap count was 11-10-11 (this will make sense if you have the Fish Lips Kiss heel in front of you). If I'd worked the smaller size (28 stitches), I would have gone for 10-8-10, but you can play around with these figures if you want a pointier or rounder heel.

I then went back to working in the round, and worked 8 rows of the chart (2 sets of smocking) on the first half of the round, and plain stockingette on the heel stitches.

After that, I worked another 8 rounds with the pattern reaching all the way round. You'll have to shift the final 2 stitches of the round forwards and backwards to complete all the smocking.

I then worked 3 more rounds of twisted ribbing as set, then k2togtbl (knit 2 together through the back loop, pictured) yo (yarn over) to end. This creates the round of eyelets for an easy start to the crochet.

I then bound off using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off, working the knit stitches through the back loop, and treating the yarn overs as purls.

I weaved in the ends, and was done!