Phoenix Knitting Forums

Ive just bought a ball of King Cole Mirage, which is just gorgeous and very snuggly and would be perfect for socks, I think.

The only thing is, it's DK and Ive only ever knit 4ply socks.

Can anyone recommend a good DK pattern, or even how many stitches I should cast on for a ladies pair of socks?
Im too lazy to swatch, Im afraid...

Also, I'd be interested to know what needle size people use to knit dk socks -I know the ball band recommends 4mm needles but I wouldnt imagine using needles that large for socks?

Thanks everyone!

Lis

Hi Lis - I've used mirage for a cardigan (which I'm wearing as I type actually!) and I'd be a bit wary of using it for socks because of the one ply construction - if you plan to wear them as ordinary socks I think I'd be worried they wouldn't wear well. But see what others think - that's just my gut feel, I'm not speaking from experience... Sorry to be so negative but I thought I should mention it.

Hi Claire

Thanks so much for your input!! I had thought of that too, and was imagining them more as bed socks for my mum, because of their fluffiness. I'm finding it actually quite hard to knit with and the yarn has different levels of twist in it, which makes it a bit awkward.

It's going to be a challenge! But hopefully bedsocks are the way to go!



ps the cardi sounds lovely- is it nice to wear?

I've done dk socks cuff down on 54 sts but I do knit tightly!!!

Yeah, I found it quite splitty too and varying levels of twist. The main thing that made me wonder about socks was that sewing up was tricky - the yarn tended to untwist, and then of course it pulled apart under the tension of sewing a couple of times. But it does look lovely knitted up, and I'm loving the cardigan, which is a very clever design by the lady that runs the knitting group I go to. I was test knitting for her - as soon as she publishes the pattern, I'll post some photos of the cardigan because I'm really chuffed with it, and I think other people will want to knit it too

I think it would make fantastic bedsocks, especially because it's lovely and warm - actually I have some spare (another of its good points is that it goes on for MILES!) and I might do some bedsocks too...

Noviceknitter2 was knitting some crofter socks from a sirdar pattern which are knitted flat, so if you didn't mind buying a pattern you could try those. Alternatively, there's the sock of doom pattern http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~elea ... ttern.html (so called I think because it was for a sock war, not because it's an awful pattern ) which is free - but I haven't tried it...

I just had a quick look on ravelry and there are 13 pages of free dk sock patterns - so if you aren't a member, it might be worth signing up just for that (you could always just ignore it thereafter, if you didn't want to enter the rav time-drain...)

Hope that helps

ooh the cardi sounds lovely, cant wait to see pics!! And there are so many lovely colourways in this yarn. Im using the pinky purple one but there are loads of really nice colourways to choose from.

Thanks for the link, I will try the sock of doom, pattern looks quite easy, despite its grim sounding name!

And I am on ravelry, dont know HOW i have missed the 13 pages of dk socks(doh!), but I will go back and have a look. I know exactly what you mean about the time drain- it's like a black hole, once you "fall into" rav, you dont get out for a long long time

Thanks again for all your help

Lis

There's a pattern called Thuja on ravelry, which says it's for worsted weight yarn but I and others have knitted it in dk weight with no problems. It's in my project page on ravelry (link below). I think I cast on 48 stitches for a womans size 6 foot.

One good thing about dk-weight socks is that they knit up really quickly

Liscoole, you're welcome. It's always better to get an actual recommendation for a pattern that knits up well though isn't it, rather than just trawling through rav...

My little sister wants some knee high socks, so it's good to hear that DK ones knit up fast, I wasn't really fancying it in 4-ply

When I knit DK socks I use 3.5mm needles and cast on 48 st for a womans foot (usually do 60 on 2.5mm needles for 4ply) I find they are not as comfy to wear with shoes so tend to wear them around the house.

I used the Violet Green sock generator - there's a version for DK socks on there. I think I used either 3.0 or 3.5mm - definitely not 4.0mm.