Men’s Socks
Knitted Flat, with a Side Seam
Materials Required: Approximately 6-8 oz 3/15 coned yarn, or any fingering weight that will knit to gauge
Gauge: 8 sts, 11 rows = 1 inch
Tension: Approximately 6, or whatever is necessary to obtain gauge
Cuff: Bring forward 73 needles and arrange for K1, P1 ribbing. T 1/1. Make zigzag row, hang comb and weights. K 3 circular rows. T 2/2, or as tight as machine will knit without floating sts. RC 000. K even to RC 36. Transfer all sts to main bed.
Leg: T6. Dec 1 st. 72 sts remain, 36L – 36R. K even to RC 84 for a 12″ long sock. Adjust here as desired, but make a note if you change the number of rows.
Heel: RC 000. T 5. COR. Place all sts L of center 0 into HP. Set carriage to hold. SR heel shaping. *Bring first needle next to carriage out to HP, K 1 row. Repeat from * 15 more times. 20 sts remain in WP, and COR. Manually knit the first HP st next to the carriage; there are now 21 sts in WP. ** Push first holding st on side opposite carriage back to UWP, K 1 row. Repeat from ** until all heel sts are back in WP. Keep heel section well weighted to prevent dropped sts. It also helps to pull down on the point of the heel with the nonknitting hand.
Foot: T 6. RC 000. K even to RC 93 for shoe size 7-8, RC 97 for shoe size 9-10, and RC 103 for shoe size 11-12. NOTE:This is only an average RC length; different brands of yarn, and different dye lots have differing amounts of stretch, and it may be necessary to adjust length by several rows, either more or less.
Toe: Work as for heel, but decrease until only 16 sts remain. When all sts are back in WP, remove each side separately on WY. Kitchener st (graft) toe sts. Whip stitch side seam, taking just the outside loop of each stitch for a flat seam.
For second sock, begin heel after RC 85, with COL, to reverse the placement of side seam. Heel and toe will be worked on the L side, rather than the R side.
This is a pattern I wrote for machine knitting classes in 1979. It was uploaded to the original Clearwater Knits website and copyrighted in 1997.