Reinforced Toe

I've been seeing a lot of sock patterns with reinforced heels. I don't think I have ever worn out a heel on a pair of socks, though, and I have socks that I've been wearing for 20 years. What always wears out on my socks are the toes. Therefore, I've experimented with several different methods of reinforcing the toes on a couple pairs of socks I've been knitting and frogging for a long time. I've tried adding a strand of heavy nylon thread, and working the toe in a smaller needle. I finally took inspiration from Cat Bordhi's reinforced heels, and came up with this method. This is written for a toe-up pattern with a wide, rounded end, but the basic stitch pattern (which is actually called "heel stitch") could be used for almost any toe.

Besides being very sturdy, this is also very comfortable. I love the cross-stitch effect of the slipped stitches, too.

The increases for this pattern are worked along the edges of the foot. These instructions are written for two circular needles, but this can also be used with DPNs. If working with DPNs, you may switch to the full number of needles whenever you want. Just be sure to mark the row's halfway point to separate the instep from the sole. Both are worked the same, so it doesn't matter which is which.

Finally, your gauge in heel stitch will be different than in stockinette or garter stitch. My normal gauge for this yarn and needle (size 1) is about 7 sts. and 11.5 rows per inch. In heel stitch my gauge is about 10 sts. and 16 rows per inch.

_____________________

Cast on 14 stitches (or whatever number of stitches you prefer) using a Turkish Cast-on or Judy Becker's Magic Cast-on.

Row 1: *K1, S1 purl-wise.* Repeat to end.

Row 2: Instep (needle 1) - *K1, make one left-slanted increase (M1L or LLinc). K to one stitch before end of needle. Make one right-slanted increase (M1R or LRinc).* Repeat from * for sole (needle 2).

Repeat rows 1-2 until desired number of stitches is reached for sock foot.

Row 1: *S1 purl-wise, K1.* Repeat to end.

Row 2: K to end.

Row 3: *K1, S1 purl-wise.* Repeat to end.

Row 4: K to end.

Repeat these 4 rows until toe reaches desired length.

_____________________

We now return you to your regularly scheduled sock pattern.

_____________________