My first finished knit ever was a garter stitch scarf for my teddy bear knitted with yarn scraps provided from my mom’s stash. I was all of 5 years old. It even had a little fringe to it and I was so proud of that little thing (wish I still had it!!). In the years that followed, I began to turn up my nose at the humble garter stitch and I endeavored to knit, and design, fancier and fancier stitch patterns. In the last couple of years, however, I have come full circle and have learned to appreciate and embrace the humble garter stitch again and have been using it in sweaters and socks and trying to take advantage of its unique knitted characteristics.

These socks are the third design in my garter renaissance and they are great for using up scraps. The mostly garter stitch leg is also very VERY stretchy and thus perfect for those of us blessed with thick calves or ankles or cankles. The garter leg also creates a cushy and warm fabric for >those troubled by cold shins. You don’t have to have thick calves for these socks, average or thin calved folks can wear these as well. The pictured socks were knit for myself, with an XL size leg (80 ST) but still fit my narrow calved DIL model just fine, as you can see. In addition, I have used a variegated yarn and paired it with a complementary solid colored yarn and managed to prevent any unfortunate pooling that so often results with indie dyed yarns.

Furthermore, in this pattern I have uncoupled the leg from the foot in the instructions so that knitters can easily work up a leg with one stitch count and then continue knitting and make a foot with a different stitch count if desired. The pictured socks are an example of this: they feature an 80 ST leg and a 72 ST foot. Because of this uncoupling, the design of the leg and ankle/gusset area is well suited to those of us with thick ankles/high arches and/or wide feet.

These socks are worked top down with a standard heel flap and a wide toe. This pattern is appropriate for adventurous beginners who have experience with knitting a traditional heel flap and gusset. I knit socks on 4 DPNs at a time; I have attempted to generalize my instructions for folks who use other needle set ups. It is sized for adult men or women with 4 sizes (the smallest size would be appropriate for an older child).

Yarn recommendations: for the appearance as in the pictured socks, use a solid color for the cuff and foot and a matching or contrasting yarn that is variegated for the garter section on the leg. OR—use up those scraps and switch them up between the 12 row pattern repeats!