The Cloud Forest Socks are inspired by Gwaii Haanas, a National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site in the Haida Gwaii islands off the coast of British Columbia. It is primarily composed of temperate coniferous rain forest. This type of forest is sometimes poetically called a “cloud forest” because of the silvagenitus clouds that it produces. These socks reflect the intertwined branches of needles of the native Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) in the temperate rain forest canopy.

Pattern Description

These socks use cables of long, elongated stitches to create surface texture on top of the fabric. Those elongated stitches also highlight the subtle colour details we all love in handpainted yarns. They feature a rounded short row Chinstrap heel and a twisted-rib cuff. Both toe-up and cuff-down instructions are provided.

This pattern requires the knitter to be able to knit a small circumference in the round (the pattern is written to be method-neutral) and clearly explains all techniques required. All cables can be done without a cable needle. Within the pattern you will find links to useful video tutorials as well, so the pattern is easily accessible to an intermediate sock knitter.

Yarn Requirements and Sizing

Sizes available: Adult Small (Medium, Large) — 56 (64, 72) st —to fit foot circumferences of 18 (20.5, 23) cm / 7 (8, 9) inches. Foot lengths and leg heights are completely adjustable to fit in all sizes.

Yarn requirements: For average foot lengths and equal leg heights, approximately 300 (325, 350) m / 325 (350, 375) yards of fingering-weight sock yarn are required.

The texture on these socks stands out in many different colourways, but randomly-multicoloured yarns and speckled yarns are most effective.

These socks are rated 3/5 — Intermediate — on my sock pattern difficulty scale. This is because they require a few uncommon stitches as well as cables.

This pattern is available on the knitCompanion app! You can get a version prepared specifically for kC compatibility here. #kcdesign