Thuja pattern - help please

[abunchofus]

ok - I'm finally ready to cast on my first pair of socks LOL - after a ton of distractions doing other projects LOL

but my ? is this - I am using a sport/dk weight yarn instead of worsted (my goof - I thought it called for sport wt)

anyway -

I did my gauge swatch last night! yaaayyyy!

I got 6 1/4 to 6 1/2 spi

the pattern calls for
GAUGE 22 sts/36 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch and a cast on of 44 stitches.

so that is 5.5 spi

so my thoughts are at 5.5spi then 44 stitches = 8"
(which seems really small for a man's sock but it says that it fits a mans foot 9-11)

so anyway - if I need 8" then at 6.25spi I would need to cast on 50 stitches or at 6.5 spi I'd need 52 stitches. (is that correct thinking?)

the pattern is worked in a multiple of 4 stitches so I'd need to either go with 48 or 52 stitches.

is this correct thinking?

My dh has an average 9 1/2 shoe size. I had his foot measurements but can't find them right this second.

any suggestions on how many stitches to cast on?

[Ingrid]

The 8 inch measurement would be around his leg, so I think your best bet is to either measure that or a pair of his socks and then see if the 48 or 52 would be better.

[abunchofus]

Ingrid - how far up his calf do I measure?

I'm not sure how tall these socks are as to where I should measure his leg?

[Ingrid]

Check the pattern and see how many inches you're supposed to knit before starting the heel/instep section.

[abunchofus]

Oh ok thank you!

[abunchofus]

ok I just looked and the pattern says to knit 6" to top of heel -

My husband has very muscular legs but I didn't realize his legs were quite this big.
his calf measures 14.5 & 15" at it's biggest point on each leg and at the top point of the sock his leg measures approx 12.5"
So I am really worried that won't be near enough give!

[Ingrid]

It's a good think you had to check! Maybe you should knit a couple of inches of maybe 64 stitches and see how it would fit on his massive manly calf.

[abunchofus]

Thanks Ingrid!

Will adding those stitches make the foot of the sock too big?

[Ingrid]

Again, I'm not sure. Hopefully someone with more sock experience will be able to chime in.

If it looks like the foot part of the pattern is big enough, maybe you could decrease at the ankle down to a size to equal that.

[krazy4kats]

You usually want some negative ease in your socks so they stay where they're supposed to, I think the "usual" is to have the cast on measure 25% less that the actual measurement of the calf where the sock will be.

If you increase your cast on, it will make the whole sock circumference larger, but you can do some calf shaping/decreasing as you work down the leg part (unless he has massive ankles as well, LOL), that way when you get to the heel flap, heel turn, etc. you can follow the directions as written.