A Quick Toe-Up Sock Calculator

Have you ever wanted to knit plain socks for yourself or someone in your family but you aren’t sure how to get started with the math?

Henriette at Eddie’s Room has designed a super sock calculator that does all the math for you to work a toe-up sock in just about any size using Judy’s Magic Cast On.

Just change the sizing in the first box and the numbers throughout the post will update, showing you how many stitches to cast on, when to start the heel turn and how to do it. If you have a shorter foot, or a wider foot or whatever, you can change those measurements or just use the standard measures if you’re knitting for someone whose foot isn’t available for measuring.

Of course you still need to check your gauge with the yarn you are using, as the calculator assumes 26 stitches per 4 inches, or 6.5 stitches per inch. If you’re getting something different you can change the number on the form and it will recalculate for you. Easy peasy.

Have you ever used an online knitting pattern calculator before? I’d love to hear how it worked for you (and Henriette is looking for testers for the adult sizes on her calculator, so if you try it out please let her know).

[Photo via Eddie’s Room.]

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If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

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