We’ve all done it- bought a single skein full of beautiful colours only to get home and think “what kind of garment can I actually knit with this?” Well, now you can knit the Aspen Trees socks! Aspen Trees is the perfect solution for all your stashed variegated yarn. The slipped stitch pattern makes these socks more interesting to knit than regular vanilla socks, but is still simple enough to show off any stripes and speckles, like the dappled bark of aspen trees.

The slipped stitch pattern will need to be blocked to lie flat, otherwise the stitches will pull on the fabric. Due to this, gauge should be measured after blocking.

Sizes
There are four sizes in the pattern; 1 (18cm / 7.25” foot circumference), 2 (20cm / 8” foot circumference), 3 (22.5cm / 9” foot circumference), and 4 (25cm / 10” foot circumference). Note that the sizes listed are measured around the sock, so find your size by measuring your foot and then subtracting 10%.

Yarn and Yardage
This pattern is great for variegated yarn! Any yarn in your stash that seems too bright, complex, or varied to work well for something more complicated like lace or cables is perfect for these socks. (This way, you don’t have to knit yet another pair of vanilla socks.)

About 200-310 yards is needed for these socks. If you lengthen or shorten the leg, the yardage will change accordingly.

Needles
Needles (DPN’s or circulars), stitch markers, sock blockers, and a darning needle.

Techniques
This pattern is good for beginners who are familiar with basic cuff down, in the round, heel flap and gusset sock construction but are interested in beginning to explore more designs.

Instructions are only written in this pattern; there is no chart.