Sock Lab Special Bonus Round: Cinch

Between my six-pair project this past winter and the Unusual Sockitecture KAL I ran for the Ravelry Sock Knitters group, I spent many months positively steeped in alternate sock geometry.  And then I had a little seed of an idea, and it caught fire and the next thing I knew, I had created this:

Last year during Tour de Sock, I was clamoring for all sorts of whacked-out sock patterns.  I wanted alternate construction.  I wanted colorwork and cables all together.  I wanted something no one expected.

So imagine how thrilled I was when my friend Sarah said she wanted to use my pattern in Tour de Sock this year!  The pattern is called Cinch and it was released yesterday for Stage 5 of the Tour.  It will be available to the general knitterly public on September 4th.

This sock borrows construction ideas from Stripe Tease.  The cuff is knitted in the round to provide a base for the four panels, which are each knitted flat and joined to the next by picked-up stitches at the edge.  The heel is a short-row, no-wrap heel and the toe is worked in the round when all four panels are complete.

The cable pattern is based on a Barbara Walker pattern called the Triple Gull stitch.  I love the smooth look of the crossed stitch - it comes from slipping the stitch in the row below the cross.  I added a fourth gull and flipped it upside down so the cables pointed down the sock instead of up.  I think they look like little corsets, hence the name of the pattern.