9 Tips for Knitting Stranded Colorwork Socks

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Stranded color knitting is the knitter’s version of painting by number—and just as simple. It produces intricate patterns using just two different-colored yarns per round and a straightforward chart. But even knitters who have successfully used this technique for other garments may find that their finished colorwork socks simply don’t stretch enough to fit over their heels. Fortunately, there are tricks to create a more elastic fabric and a successful sock fit.  

Even if you get gauge for the stockinette portions of a sock pattern, you may have trouble maintaining it in colorwork areas. Knitters generally find that their gauge is tighter, with more stitches per inch, over stranded areas than plain stockinette stitch. A tighter gauge means a tighter sock—one that won’t fit. Because stranded colorwork does not have the same stretch capacity as plain stockinette knitting, you have a real problem. 

Why Is the Fabric So Tight?

The culprits are the strands, or floats, which are lengths of yarn not being knitted and simply carried along the back of the fabric. The knitted loops create the elasticity of knitted fabrics, while these straight sections of yarn do not have much stretch capacity. 

Socks fit our legs and feet through a combination of shaping and negative ease. Most socks are knitted a tad smaller in circumference than the actual measurements of your calf and foot; the elasticity of the knitted fabric generally allows them to stretch. An inelastic fabric will not stretch to allow your heel to pass through or pull in to gently hug your leg. 

What’s a Knitter To Do?

1. Stretch

Gently stretch out the stitches on your right needle as you strand the unused yarn across the back of these stitches (Photo 1 below).

Aim to space the stitches across the needle more widely than your goal gauge—remember that you will stretch the sock when you put it on. This will ensure that the unused yarn strand will later relax against the back of the work. Make a swatch to practice spacing your stitches on the needle until you’ve had some success and know how much space is too much. 

2. Relax

Let the unused yarn relax on the back side and be careful not to tug on it when making the first stitch of the new color. A float should look like a flattened U rather than an arrow-straight line (Photo 2 below). 

Although you also don’t want loose, wobbly stitches, remember that even if some stitches look large when you first try it, you’ll be able to wear the socks. With practice, you’ll find the right balance. 

Whether you’re working on double-pointed needles or using the magic-loop method, you also need to be careful when working the first stitch on a new needle. Make sure that you’re not pulling too tightly, which would cut off the corner where the two needles meet. 

3. Go Bigger

Giving the stranded section a slightly larger gauge than the rest of the sock can help avoid a too-tight sock. Try using needles one to two sizes larger than normal to increase the gauge for the stranded areas of the sock, especially on the leg portion. Overly loose stranding and a bigger gauge are preferable to short floats and tight knitting. I work the cuff, heel, and toe of my socks at a smaller gauge, using a smaller needle, then change to a larger needle to work the stranded portions. You can’t see much of a difference between the gauges, but it makes a difference in the elasticity of the fabric.

Remember that the gauge can change over the course of your knitting. Make it a point to check the gauge—especially on the colorwork portions—throughout your project, and make adjustments if you find yourself getting tighter. 

4. Turn Inside Out

Here’s a trick I use for every round of stranded colorwork that I knit on my socks: I flip the sock inside out, then knit these rounds. To do this, start by turning your sock inside out on the needles so that you can see the right side of the work inside on the needle farthest from you. The wrong side of the sock with the floats will be outside (Photo 3 below). 

The outside of the circle has a larger circumference than the inside, which forces you to make your floats a bit longer. The greatest benefit of working this way is you can’t inadvertently cut the corner between needles. Cutting the corner pulls the float shorter than the span of the stitches it should relax against on the backside. With the sock inside out, you can easily see both the color patterning from the previous rounds and the behavior of your floats at the same time. 

5. Drift Away

How often to catch floats when working colorwork comes down to personal preference. In order to keep the tension of your sock from getting too tight, you may want to consider letting your floats go a little longer without catching them than you normally would; catching floats too frequently can make the fabric less flexible.  

That said, it is important to remember to catch those floats over long stretches of more than six stitches where a color isn’t used (Photo 4 above).  

You don’t want to snarl your toes in floats when you put on your socks. And remember to alternate where you catch your floats—catching them in the same place every round will make a noticeable blip of color going up your sock (Photos 5 and 6 above).

6. Measure

After you’ve worked a few inches of the stranded colorwork areas on your sock (either on the leg, if working cuff-down, or on the foot for toe-up socks), it’s time to measure. Wrap a tape measure around your heel (or your intended recipient’s heel) and up and over your instep, which is the widest point of your foot, where the sock will need to stretch the most. 

Next, measure the circumference of your knitting while stretching it out as much as possible. Compare the two measurements to make sure your sock is able to stretch to match or exceed your foot measurement. If you don’t feel like measuring, you can also try slipping on your sock at this point, taking care not to break your knitting needles. 

7. Add On

If you find that your sock is still too tight, another trick is to add more stitches, especially to the leg portion. Try following the pattern for the next size up, decreasing stitch counts for the cuff and heel to fit. If the pattern repeat for your sock is small—for example, a four-stitch repeat—you can simply increase four stitches after the cuff and work an additional repeat. Decrease these four stitches at the ankle before working the heel. 

8. Duplicate

Since different colors of yarn are used throughout the patterned areas of socks (sometimes for only one round!), there are more yarn ends to weave in when finishing a stranded-color sock. To maintain the elasticity of the fabric, use the duplicate-stitch method to weave in your ends on the inside of the sock (Figure 1).  

The duplicate-stitch weaving closely mimics the path of the yarn and will stretch almost the same amount as the original stitches. 

9. Block It Out

The last step is to wet-block your socks. Thoroughly soak your socks in water, then roll them up in a towel to squeeze out any excess moisture. Stretch your damp sock gently in several directions to even out stitches and floats. Let the socks dry on sock blockers to help them keep their shape (Photo 7 below).

Although these tricks may sound intimidating, stranded colorwork is really fun to knit—and the results are incredibly rewarding. 

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While cruising full-time on her sailboat throughout Central America and the Caribbean islands, Terry Morris founded the “Holiday Mystery Gifts” Yahoo Group. Over the many years of operation, the group produced hundreds of knit and crochet patterns for the 3,000+ members. Now settled back in the mountains of Northern California, Terry enjoys the socialization of knitting with friends once again. 

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This article was originally published in Sockupied Spring 2014 and has been updated.

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