CABLY WABLY SOCKS

By Liz Sedmak (completelyhooked)

Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, Cably Wably!

These wibbly, wobbly, wriggling cables are so
fun to knit! These socks are worked toe up with
a cool sideways heel, and feature a knit-on band
on the leg. I hope you enjoy knitting them as
much as I enjoyed designing them!

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MATERIALS
100-150 g fingering weight yarn (solid or semi-solid colors work best)
Size 1 (2.25 mm) knitting needles, or size needed to obtain gauge, for working small circumferences in the round,
plus needles one size smaller for the horizontal band
Cable needle
Locking stitch markers
Regular stitch markers
A way to measure your row gauge (such as a tape measure)
Blunt tapestry needle for seaming
Small amount (less than one yard/meter) of slippery dental floss

SIZES
Small (8.5”, 21.5 cm) (Large (9.5”, 24 cm)) actual circumference

GAUGE
8 sts and 11 rows per 1” (2.5 cm) in stockinette st

ABBREVIATIONS
st(s): stitch(es).
BOR: beginning of round.
k: knit.
p: purl.
ktbl: k through the back loop, resulting in a twisted st.
ptbl: p through the back loop, resulting in a twisted st.
RS: right (public) side of work.
WS: wrong (private) side of work.
pm: place marker.
sm: slip marker.
LH: left hand.
RH: right hand.
m1R: make one right. Lift horizontal strand between st just worked on RH needle and next st on LH needle
from the back (left leg of strand in front). Place it on the LH needle and k through the front loop. (Remember “I’ll
be RIGHT BACK.”)
m1L: make one left. Lift horizontal strand between st just worked on RH needle and next st on LH needle from
the front (right leg of strand in front). Place it on the LH needle and k through the back loop. (Remember “I LEFT
through the FRONT door.”)
m1P: make one purl. Lift horizontal strand between st just worked on RH needle and next st on LH needle from
the back (left leg of strand in front). Place it on the LH needle and purl through the front loop. If you wish, you
may make your m1P increases left or right leaning to match your m1L and m1R increases.
C2/1L: cable 2 over 1 to the left. Place next 2 sts on cable needle and hold in front, k1, k2 from cable needle.
C2/1R: cable 2 over 1 to the right. This is the only cable you will need to do on the WS.
On the RS: Place next st on cable needle and hold in back, k2, k1 from cable needle.
On the WS: Place next 2 sts on cable needle and hold in back, p1, p2 from cable needle.

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C1/1L: cable 1 over 1 to the left. Place next st on cable needle and hold in front, k1, k1 from cable needle.
C1/1R: cable 1 over 1 to the right. Place next st on cable needle and hold in back, k1, k1 from cable needle.
wyif: with yarn in front.
wyib: with yarn in back.
sl: slip st from the LH needle to the RH needle as if to p. Sl wyif on the WS and sl wyib on the RS.
k2tog: k two together. K the next two sts together as if they were one. On the heel, you will be knitting together
one st before the gap and one st after the gap.
4 into 1: decrease 4 sts into 1 (2 before and 2 after the gap). Starting 2 sts before the gap, sl 1, k next st (the “center
st”), place the center st on the LH needle and pass the next st on the LH needle over the center st, place the center
st back on RH needle, pass sl st over the center st, place the center st back on LH needle and pass the next st on
the LH needle over the center st. Place center st back on RH needle.
k2togtbl: k the next two sts together through their back loops, resulting in a twisted st. In the horizontal band
you will k2togtbl the last horizontal band st and the next leg st.
p2togtbl: p the next two sts together through their back loops.
ssk: Slip the first st as if to k, slip the second st as if to k, return both sts to the LH needle and k together through
the back loops.
BO: bind off. Pass the second st on the RH needle over the first st on the RH needle. One st bound off.

TOE
Cast on 18 (22) sts (9 (11) sts per needle) using the Turkish Cast On. Work the first round of k sts required to
complete the cast on, then pm for BOR. The first 9 (11) sts and the sts increased from them are the “instep” sts,
and the second 9 (11) sts and the sts increased from them are the “sole” sts.

Instep sts: Work the Toe Chart for your size.

Sole sts:
Rows 1-4: ktbl, m1R, k to 1 st before end of sole, m1L, ktbl.
Row 5: ktbl, m1R, k to 1 st before end of sole, m1L, ktbl.
Row 6: ktbl, k to 1 st before end of sole, ktbl.

Work Rows 5 and 6 seven more times (eight times total). 33 (37) sole sts and 66 (74) sts total.

FOOT
Foot Round
Instep sts: work the Instep Chart for your size.
Sole sts: ktbl, k to 1 st before end of sole, ktbl.

After working the Instep Chart twice, STOP and measure your number of rows per 1” (2.5 cm) on the
sole. Do not include the toe rows in your measurement, as those rows are slightly compressed by the
m1L and m1R increases you made while working the toe. Divide 26 (30) by your number of rows per 1”
(2.5 cm) to get the number of inches/cm to allow for the gusset. The gusset goes all the way to the back
of your heel (the heel turn is worked on the back of the leg).

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Continue working the Foot Round until you reach the measurement to start the gusset, ending on any row of
the Instep Chart.

GUSSET
Setup Round
Instep sts: work the next row of the Instep Chart for your size.
Sole sts: ktbl, m1L, pm, k to 1 st before end of sole sts, pm, m1R, ktbl.

Note that the increases go outside the markers.

Round 1
Instep sts: work the next row of the Instep Chart for your size.
Sole sts: ktbl, k to 1 st before end of sole sts, ktbl.

Round 2
Instep sts: work the next row of the Instep Chart for your size.
Sole sts: ktbl, k to first marker, m1L, sm, k31 (35), sm, m1R, k to 1 st before end of sole sts, ktbl.

Work Rounds 1 and 2 a total of 12 (14) times.

You should now have a total of 92 (104) sts: 33 (37) instep sts and 59 (67) sole sts. There should be 14 (16) sts
outside the markers on either side of the sole.

Last Gusset Round

Instep sts: work the next row of the Instep Chart for your size.
Sole sts: ktbl, p to 1 st before end of sole, ktbl, removing the markers as you come to them.

HEEL
Please read the entire heel section before beginning the Heel Chart.

You will now begin working flat (back and forth) across only the sole sts. The heel is worked sideways
like a knit-on border.

The Heel Chart starts and ends with a RS row. Note that the first st of each RS row is knit, not slipped.
This ensures a nice stretchy edge. This st is the “selvedge” along which you will pick up sts later.

Heel Setup
Work the next row of the Instep Chart and then put the instep sts on hold. Make a note of the last Instep Chart
row worked.

Heel
Work the Heel Chart for your size across the sole sts. Place a locking st marker on the first st of Row 29 (33) after
working that row. This will help with picking up sts later.

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Heel Finishing
At the end of the Heel Chart, you will have three sole sts remaining. Turn to work WS, p2togtbl, sl1. Turn to
work RS, sl2. 2 sole sts remaining.

Don’t worry if the heel looks a little wonky on the needles. It will look great once you put it on.

VERTICAL LEG SECTION

Begin working in the round again. The instep sts are now referred to as the “front of leg sts”. The two sts left
over from the heel and those that will be picked up from the heel selvedge are now referred to as the “back of
leg sts”.

Setup Round
Front of leg sts: work next row of Instep Chart.
Back of leg sts: with RS facing, pick up and k 18 (20) sts along the heel selvedge between the beginning of the
heel and the locking st marker. Pick up and k 16 (18) sts along the rest of the heel selvedge, p1, ktbl. Pick up 2
strands in for a nice, clean ktbl border.

You should now have 36 (40) back of leg sts and 69 (77) sts total.

Leg Round
Front of leg sts: work the next row of the Instep Chart for your size.
Back of leg sts: work the corresponding row of the Back of Leg Chart for your size. (For example, if the next row
of the Instep Chart is a Row 3, work Row 3 of the Back of Leg Chart.)

Repeat Leg Round until leg is approximately 2.5” to 3” (6.5 to 7.5 cm) less than desired length, ending with a
Row 12. After working the last Row 11, I strongly recommend running a lifeline through the sts on the
needles.

HORIZONTAL BAND
Please read the entire horizontal band section before beginning the Horizontal Band Chart.

Setup Round
Small:
Front of leg sts: using Row 1 of the Instep Chart, work sts 1-7, ssk, work sts 10-17, ssk, work to end
of Instep Chart.
Back of leg sts: using Row 1 of the Back of Leg Chart, work sts 1-14, ssk, work to end of Back of
Leg Chart.
Large:
Front of leg sts: using Row 1 of the Instep Chart, work sts 1-18, ssk, work sts 21-29, ssk, work to end
of Instep Chart.
Back of leg sts: using Row 1 of Back of Leg Chart, work sts 1-3, ssk, work sts 6-24, ssk, work sts
27-36, ssk, work to end of Back of Leg Chart.

You should now have 66 (72) sts.

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 Now you will work sideways again. The horizontal band is worked flat (back and forth), like a knit-on
border, just as you did for the heel. The Horizontal Band Chart is the same for both sizes. It begins on
a WS row and ends on a RS row.

I recommend using smaller needles for the horizontal band than you used for the vertical part of the leg.
The horizontal band has two rows for each st around the leg. Since the number of rows per 1” (2.5 cm)
is typically not twice the number of sts per 1” (2.5 cm) in knitting, the horizontal band will be larger
around than the vertical knitting.

While you do want the horizontal band to be a bit larger (because it will have less stretch than the vertical
knitting), you don't want it to become so large that it will be loose. By using a smaller needle, you tighten
up the horizontal band to get a perfect fit. The slipped sts in the Horizontal Band Chart also compress
the horizontal band.

Cast On
Cast 18 sts onto the LH needle using the backwards loop cast on (see tutorial here).

Your working yarn is now at the beginning of the LH needle, ready to work the setup row on the RS.

Setup Row
Working across sts just cast on and holding floss together with working yarn, k18, turn to work WS. The floss
will help immensely when seaming the end of the horizontal band to the beginning. Break floss.

Horizontal Band
Work the Horizontal Band Chart a total of 11 (12) times.

As you work the first Row 1, work the yarn and floss together as if they were one strand.

As you work the last Row 12, run floss through each st on the LH needle right before you work it, but
after any cable sts have been rearranged (but not yet knit).

After completing the last Row 12, you should have worked all the leg sts, and have only the 18 horizontal band
sts remaining.

Turn to work WS.

Bind Off
Bind off on the WS as if working Row 1 of the Horizontal Band Chart, i.e., sl1, k1, BO, p1, BO, etc. Break yarn,
leaving a 12” (30 cm) tail, and pull the tail through the last loop of the bind off.

Duplicate St Seaming
Secure the selvedge stitches of the beginning and end of the horizontal band to each other any way you would
like.

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Then, using a blunt needle and your yarn tail, with RS facing, come up through the center of the st marked with
floss at the end of the horizontal band, trace the path of the floss across the top of the corresponding st at the
beginning of the horizontal band, and come back down into the center of the same st you came up through at
the end of the horizontal band. Repeat until all sts have been seamed. This will create a faux Row 1 connecting
the beginning and end of the horizontal band.

Please watch the video tutorial for more information on how to create k, p, and ktbl sts with duplicate st
seaming so you end up with an exact replica of Row 1.

Place a locking st marker on the first st of the faux Row 1 to mark BOR (this is where you will start picking up
sts for the cuff). Once all sts have been seamed, remove the floss.

CUFF
Rejoin yarn. Beginning at BOR marker and with RS facing, pick up and k 65 (75) sts along the horizontal band
selvedge. Pick up 2 strands in for a nice, clean ktbl border.

For the Small, you’ll be picking up approximately one st per two selvedge sts.

For the Large, you will mostly be picking up one st per two selvedge sts, but will need to add in three
more sts somewhere.

Cuff Round
*ktbl, p1, k2, p1*, repeat from * to * around.

Work the Cuff Round 12 times total.

FINISHING
Break yarn, leaving a tail of about one yard (one meter). Bind off all sts using Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Sewn
Bind Off.

The tension can be difficult to get just right. You want most of the slack taken up, but don’t tug too hard
on the yarn or the bind off will be too tight. The result should not flare much and should allow the cuff
to stretch to its full potential. Check your tension frequently as you go because this bind off is not easy
to unravel - it has to be picked out st by st.

Here is an example of a properly executed bind off.

Weave in ends, wash and block if desired. Enjoy your new Cably
Wably socks!

Copyright 2021 Liz Sedmak (completelyhooked) 7

SMALL TOE CHART

SMALL INSTEP CHART

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SMALL HEEL CHART SMALL BACK OF LEG CHART

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LARGE TOE CHART

LARGE INSTEP CHART

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LARGE HEEL CHART LARGE BACK OF LEG CHART

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HORIZONTAL BAND CHART (SAME FOR SMALL AND LARGE)

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