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WI badger socks
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In this pic, I’m wearing a different pair of handmade socks under jeans under this sock, since my feet are too small for it lol
In this pic, I’m wearing a different pair of handmade socks under jeans under this sock, since my feet are too small for it lol
Finally made it to their intended recipient! And they fit!
Finally made it to their intended recipient! And they fit!
Yep. All this got frogged. In part due to the leg being over-long, but mostly because my wraps were showing in the stranded colorwork and it was making me crazy.
Yep. All this got frogged. In part due to the leg being over-long, but mostly because my wraps were showing in the stranded colorwork and it was making me crazy.
This photo is from when I knit this section just with stranding. It looks okay in the picture, but the wraps I used throughout the stranding were pretty visible when the leg was stretched a bit. It was latter frogged and the final version uses ladder back jacquard colorwork.
This photo is from when I knit this section just with stranding. It looks okay in the picture, but the wraps I used throughout the stranding were pretty visible when the leg was stretched a bit. It was latter frogged and the final version uses ladder back jacquard colorwork.
Picture 1: An early idle doodle, where I was just figuring out how to make a badger into a knitting chart, checking the spacing as a repeated motif, and starting to look at in-fill designs around the chart.
Picture 1: An early idle doodle, where I was just figuring out how to make a badger into a knitting chart, checking the spacing as a repeated motif, and starting to look at in-fill designs around the chart.
Picture 2: A Norwegian chart that I already had in my chart collection. Sometimes when I see a cool chart on the internet, I hand copy it onto some graph paper for my own uses. This design is not by me, but I’ve since lost the source picture I copied it from. I ended up incorporating this pattern into my final chart.
Picture 2: A Norwegian chart that I already had in my chart collection. Sometimes when I see a cool chart on the internet, I hand copy it onto some graph paper for my own uses. This design is not by me, but I’ve since lost the source picture I copied it from. I ended up incorporating this pattern into my final chart.
Picture 3: I started to narrow in on the stitch count. I knew I wanted ‘WISCONSIN’ to wrap around the sock in a band. I spent a bit of time designing letter charts that looked like collegiate font. Once I liked the look of each letter, I put them together with 1 clear space between letters, which totaled 76 sts. The boyfriend is like 6’-3”, and has a large shoe size to go with his height. So, knowing my usual sock gauge of 9-10 st/in, I wanted to get a chart in the mid 80’s to low 90’s in size for ankle girth. By adding a second blank space between the letters, I bumped my stitch count to 84. I like 84-it has a lot of factorials, including 4, 7, 12, and 42 so I locked in on it (always best to have lucky numbers in your stitch counts/factorials). This count worked perfectly with the badger faces with their 14 st repeat. Around this time is when I’d rediscovered the chart from picture 2. I trimmed it down and modified it to a 42 repeat stitch count, which is the chart on the bottom left
Picture 3: I started to narrow in on the stitch count. I knew I wanted ‘WISCONSIN’ to wrap around the sock in a band. I spent a bit of time designing letter charts that looked like collegiate font. Once I liked the look of each letter, I put them together with 1 clear space between letters, which totaled 76 sts. The boyfriend is like 6’-3”, and has a large shoe size to go with his height. So, knowing my usual sock gauge of 9-10 st/in, I wanted to get a chart in the mid 80’s to low 90’s in size for ankle girth. By adding a second blank space between the letters, I bumped my stitch count to 84. I like 84-it has a lot of factorials, including 4, 7, 12, and 42 so I locked in on it (always best to have lucky numbers in your stitch counts/factorials). This count worked perfectly with the badger faces with their 14 st repeat. Around this time is when I’d rediscovered the chart from picture 2. I trimmed it down and modified it to a 42 repeat stitch count, which is the chart on the bottom left
Picture 4: On the left is a study on how to best adjust the pattern at the jog, and a revision of the zig zag to be 14 sts wide. By increasing it to 14, I realized I could integrate it with the badger faces. In the top half of the right page, I tried that out. Then I started putting pieces together on the bottom half of the right page: letters, followed by ‘down’ zig zags, followed by badgers, with the intent to put the Scandinavian chart after that. Then I pulled back and looked at this full page, and realize I liked the letters being bordered by the badger zig zags above and below the letters.
Picture 4: On the left is a study on how to best adjust the pattern at the jog, and a revision of the zig zag to be 14 sts wide. By increasing it to 14, I realized I could integrate it with the badger faces. In the top half of the right page, I tried that out. Then I started putting pieces together on the bottom half of the right page: letters, followed by ‘down’ zig zags, followed by badgers, with the intent to put the Scandinavian chart after that. Then I pulled back and looked at this full page, and realize I liked the letters being bordered by the badger zig zags above and below the letters.
Picture 5: I went to my computer to visualize the colors and layout. I cut the second set of badgers, because I realized this sock was getting a bit long in the leg with all the various motifs stacked up.
Picture 5: I went to my computer to visualize the colors and layout. I cut the second set of badgers, because I realized this sock was getting a bit long in the leg with all the various motifs stacked up.
Picture 6: I decided to move the Norwegian chart to the foot, and as such I wanted to make the ‘down’ zig zags below the letters a bit more tapered, to transition into the sock body. I played around with adding additional diamonds.
Picture 6: I decided to move the Norwegian chart to the foot, and as such I wanted to make the ‘down’ zig zags below the letters a bit more tapered, to transition into the sock body. I played around with adding additional diamonds.
Picture 7: after sleeping on picture 5 for a bit, I decided it was a disorganized mess. It would place the letters too low on the sock leg for my liking. I went back to my original idea of the top down order of cuff-letters-badgers-zig zags. The Norwegian chart stayed on the foot. In the process of reorganizing, I added more zig zags below the letters and above the Nor. chart, to transition color zones. I added Latvian braids above and below the letters, and added corrugated ribbing in the cuff. I added a plain star field to fill the sock body and provide a simple means of length adjustment. Finally, I changed to a darker gray to contrast the white better. The heel break will happen somewhere in the star field.
Picture 7: after sleeping on picture 5 for a bit, I decided it was a disorganized mess. It would place the letters too low on the sock leg for my liking. I went back to my original idea of the top down order of cuff-letters-badgers-zig zags. The Norwegian chart stayed on the foot. In the process of reorganizing, I added more zig zags below the letters and above the Nor. chart, to transition color zones. I added Latvian braids above and below the letters, and added corrugated ribbing in the cuff. I added a plain star field to fill the sock body and provide a simple means of length adjustment. Finally, I changed to a darker gray to contrast the white better. The heel break will happen somewhere in the star field.
8: this became my final chart that I used.
8: this became my final chart that I used.
photos above © ModularReality
Finished
March 31, 2022
October 28, 2022

WI badger socks

Project info
Knitting
Men’s L
Needles & yarn
US 1½ - 2.5 mm
Knit Picks Stroll Fingering Solids, Heathers, Tonals & Twists
Strawberry
Knit Picks Stroll Fingering Solids, Heathers, Tonals & Twists
white
Knit Picks Stroll Fingering Solids, Heathers, Tonals & Twists
6 Black
Knit Picks Stroll Fingering Solids, Heathers, Tonals & Twists
Ash
Notes

Last Christmas, I made sock gifts for several family members. The socks were well received, and one person mentioned that they would love it if I could make a pair for their boyfriend next year- specifically a Badgers themed pair (the boyfriend is a super fan).

So, the commission took root in my brain, and I started idling on it while doodling, and it became a rather elaborate final chart and project.

I’ll note that, as an Illinois native who now lives in Wisconsin, I took a bit of psychic damage while designing this lol.

I included a bunch of photos showing how the design progressed over time. There’s details in the photo descriptions.

The chart is written for a short row heel. Near the end of design I thought about adjusting everything to incorporate a flap heel with gussets, and a separate sole motif, but nixed the idea.

03-31-2022

Back on this pattern as a break from a sweater. I’m frogging and restarting- in part to address length issues and for some changes I made to my chart.

In an effort to find a tubular-type cast on for corrugated ribbing, I went down a rabbit hole and now find myself learning brioche in the round…

…several hours later…

Well, I did a bunch of experimenting, where I learned 2 color brioche in the round, and how to use the Italian 2 color CO to create a tubular-style edge for corrugated ribbing. Substituting 2 color brioche for the corrugated ribbing resulted in far too wide/stretchy of a cuff that would never hold a sock up. I probably should have guessed that before the attempt, but oh well. I frogged and then knit about 1” of corr. ribbing with the Italian CO before frogging again. The CO edge looked good, but gaped slightly relative to the ribbing. I frogged once again and went back to my original German twisted CO. I could have retried 2 color tubular with some US 0s for the CO, but I was done fussing with CO at this point.

On my second try with it, I ironed out the issues i was having with my newly learned ladder back jacquard stitches, and implemented them behind the ‘WISCONSIN’ band. The ladder stitches were all back loop cast ons instead of lifted increases, and all were purled so that the ladder’s ridge would not press against the WS. I’m very happy with how that section turned out.

04-05-2022

I’ve probably gone a bit excessive with the ladderbacks, but I am liking the results. There are zero float wraps. In hindsight, I could have knit nearly the entire pattern sans wraps or ladderbacks, but it’s been fun to try out the technique. My thoughts were: if I’m going to need a ladder later in the pattern, I should just use it the full length. The foot is knit in regular stranding, since the floats were minor and I didn’t think the ladder texture would feel good against the sole.

This was knit with some stash colors, but I wish I would have had some heathered medium gray on hand rather than the flat gray.

04-19-2022

I finished sock 1 as a break from a sweater project. Final measurements, unstretched, are 10.5” from back of heel to toe tip, and 9” from cuff to bottom of heel. There’s plenty of stretch, especially in the length; it could easily wear 1”+ longer in the foot. It should fit fine on a fairly large shoe size. I modified the pattern for a final time because the leg was too long, and I’m happy with the final results.

10-24-2022

Back on my bullshit aka finally finishing the pair to my original sock

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Finished
March 31, 2022
October 28, 2022
About this pattern
Personal pattern (not in Ravelry)
About this yarn
Stroll Fingering Solids, Heathers, Tonals & Twists
by Knit Picks
Fingering
75% Merino, 25% Nylon
231 yards / 50 grams

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  • Project created: March 4, 2022
  • Finished: October 29, 2022
  • Updated: December 28, 2022
  • Progress updates: 3 updates