Lacy Socks: my not so secret passion

I’m addicted to knitting socks like many knitters are–hey! we even have a Facebook page, so you know it’s a thing! And why not? What’s not to love? You get to make some great functional pieces and they are quick, quick, quick! So..yeah. Me and socks, I love’em. After designing and knitting quite a few pairs, I find that I have this thing about lace socks. I don’t actually wear the lacy ones myself, but, gosh I sure do adore making them. So I thought I’d share my lacy creations and tell a few little stories of how they came to be.

I have written up patterns for all of them so if you are so inclined, simply click the highlighted link and it will take you to my Ravelry store if you wish to purchase a pattern. This brings up a pertinent point: all of them are patterns for sale, it’s true. Let me tell ya, lace patterns are a lot more persnickety to work out and they involve a lot of test knitting; sometimes multiple pairs are made by myself and others before the pattern is all worked out to my satisfaction. So: sorry, not sorry, I’m definitely charging for all of that work. That being said, let’s take a look, shall we?

I dipped my toe into Lake Lacy Sock with these babies: these are my Not Quite Lace Socks. Just a few holes generated by some increases but not really enough to really call it a true lace, in my opinion. This pattern has a lot of stretch to it laterally (suitable for larger angels and calves). Because of the undulations produced by the strategically placed increases and decreases, this is a great pattern for highly variegated indie dyed yarn.

But after getting my single toe wet, there was no looking back. I jumped all the way in to Lake Lacy Sock and created my next sock with an all over lace design by downsizing the traditional ivy leaf stitch pattern. The stitch count was not too big (and thus not horribly difficult to deal with) but lining up the motifs at the heel and the toe was challenging. Thus, only a single cast on amount was given and 2 sizes were developed by using different needle sizes. This is my Ivy Leaf Socks pattern. I was so entranced by this pattern that immediately after finishing up with this pattern, I designed a matching wrap/shawl that flows from small leaves at one side to larger and larger leaves and then back down again, my Faerie Ivy Leaf Shawl. But enough about that, lets get back to socks!

These lovelies are my Arrows for an Archer Socks. Designed for a special young lady who is into archery. Can you see the arrows in this all over pattern? The fletching (feathers) are at the cuff top edge, the cuff ribbing has the arrow shafts and then the rest of the leg and on down on top of the instep are the arrowheads. The recipient was especially pleased that the fancy top edge protrudes out the top of her Doc Martens.

After all of these all over patterns (and wrestling to fit in the repeats and offer different sizes) I decided to take it easy and design a pair of sock with the lace in a front panel only. I blogged about these socks previously as I was so taken with this wonderful glacier colored yarn. These are my Glacier Socks and they mimic the tracks a glacier makes.

After taking it easy with a single manageable lace panel, I decided I was ready for a challenge so I designed these floral motif lace socks. These are my Steel Magnolia Socks and they feature a mirror image of the main floral motif reflected from the leg to the instep. I accomplished this with a provisional cast on at the ankle, knit the leg up to the cuff and then picked up the stitches and knit the foot down to the toe. Whew! I am pleased to say that the pattern for these appears in Nomadic Knits, Issue 6, 2020. [I will link when its available on Ravelry]. I was especially proud of the floral motifs which I swatched over and over again until I had a complete plant with a flower, stem and leaves all lined up in a botanically accurate way.

Here’s another sock pattern inspired by some luscious yarn (the color way was called Margarita): this is my Margaritas and Martinis pattern. Can you see all the little stacked up glasses, lol? I tell ya, I was thirsty for margaritas the whole time I was knitting these guys up. After posting these on social media, someone suggested knitting these up with a bead in the bottom of the glasses to represent an olive–wouldn’t that be cute? I may have to knit these again just for that.

Well…there you have it! I won’t say that I’m obsessed with lacy socks, (I do knit a lot of other things, after all), but there is no denying that lacy socks are pretty high on my knitting priorities list. I just keep finding new things to try or adapt or create!