Going bananas

Banana socks. I always figure they will be the first footwear I'd ever try. Amanda mentioned she would love some comfy socks, yellow is her favourite and I had just the yarn for the job -- yellow banana socks, what more can you ask for. 

The yarn I had was fingering, so I coupled it with a cream fingering yarn for the DK-ish weight. I took my 2.5mm flexi needles and figured I'll see later if I like the knit density. I cast on 48 stitches, joined in the round and did 12 rows of 2 by 2 ribbing. Then the pattern splits into two parts (you continue in the round): on half the stitches you do horizontal knit-purls stripes and on the other half the stitches you do vertical ribbing for the back of the sock. 

Since I had 48 stitches total, each half would be 24 and I faced one small issue. For my 2 by 2 back-ribbing, being 24 it meant that starting with a column of 2 knits, I'd end with a column of 2 purls and I wasn't a fan of this asymmetry. So I figured I will do 3 knits, (2 purls, 2 knits, 2 purls) 3 times and then end with 3 knits. Symmetrical order was restored. I did 12 cuff rows in 2 by 2 ribbing, then switched to horizontal stripes (I decided to do 4 of each) and back-ribbing. 

Looks good right?

Well, while Amanda has larger feet than mine and I do want these to be comfy, being able to fit my whole hard in with my foot was a bit much. Unravel and start over. I think 44 total stitches will do. And bonus! Half of 44 is 22, which means my back-ribbing can start with 2 knits and end with 2 knits, none of this adjusting by introducing 3-knit columns. 

Pro tip: if you'd like to have symmetric 2 by 2 ribbing to your stitches, the complete stitch count needs to be divisible by 4, but not divisible by 8.

Cast on 44, do 12 rows of 2 by 2 ribbing. Divide stitches into two equal parts of 22 stitches. On the first/front half do 4 rows of knit followed by 4 rows of purls. On the second/back half: do 2 by 2 ribbing. Since I wanted a distinct cuff look, I made sure to misalign my back-ribbing from the cuff ribbing. Go until you're happy with the length -- front-wise, I kept going until I had 9 repeats of the horizontal purl stripes. 

Onto the toe. I decided to go with a round toe and found this page very useful: Amanda has longer toes, so I realized that I should knit a few rows between decreases. I had 44 stitches, I divided them into 9 groups of 5... well, almost -- the last group was 8 stitches, but close enough. I decreased by knotting two together on every 8th stitch, knit 2 rows, and repeated this pattern (decreasing on the 7th, 6th, etc stitch as needed) until I had 5ish stitches total. Pulled the yarn through them all and done! And repeat with the second sock with no adventures to report.

The fabric is both squishy and stretchy and the lack of the heel means that the socks fit both me and my 8-year old -- they just look like knee-hights on her. Now she wants a pair of her own, so I am casting on 36 stitches for a smaller fit. 

Note re: sock toes. I think this toe will work well for Amanda because she has a narrow foot and long toes. For my more square foot I would probably use a more round toe.