This pattern is retired and not usually available. However, I make many of my retired patterns available for a few days twice a year, and this is one of those times! It will be available from now through some time on Monday, December 2. Then it will go away again.

In the summer of 2022, I realized that I found maintaining a back catalog of hundreds of patterns overwhelming. I couldn’t do it and still release new things. So I took my old patterns down so I could keep doing new work.

A few favorites have come back, and lots of new things have come out! But the vast majority of the old patterns are retired and are no longer generally available.

However, enough folks have asked about old favorites that I make many of the retired patterns available for a few days twice a year (usually in early summer and around Thanksgiving).

• If you see the buy buttons on this page, you’ve caught it on one of the days it’s available!
• If you don’t see the buy buttons on this page, then it’s not currently available.
• If you want to hear when the retired patterns are available, subscribe to the mailing list or patreon, or keep an eye on my instagram.

Enchase verb to cut or carve in relief

I love tiny cables. There’s something so enchanting about the crisp sharp line created by a single perfect column of twisted stitches as it goes traipsing across your work. It’s tidy and orderly and precise and I adore it beyond all reason. I’m sure this reveals something questionable about my character (I like to line all the books on my bookcase up just so, too), but I don’t care. I like what I like, and I suspect a few of you share my predilections!

If you’re looking for socks that let you play with just that sort of cable, these could be it. Lovely big cables on the front and back are flanked by wee tiny cables on the sides of your foot. Everything continues beautifully on the heel and toe (anything less would be scandalous on a sock as charming as this). The result is one of the most satisfyingly orderly socks I’ve ever seen!

They’re written in four sizes (60, 68, 76, and 84 stitch cast ons), and you should feel free to adjust your gauge a bit to fine tune the fit of the sock. Just be sure that you’re working at a gauge that gives you a sturdy sock fabric with your chosen yarn!

I recommend working at something around 7, 8, or 9 stitches per inch, and I’ve included a table to help you figure out what gauge you’ll want to use for the size you need. With that range of sizes and gauges, the socks will fit a foot (measured around the ball of the foot) between 7.25 and 13.25 inches (with lots of points in between).

These are perfect for you if:

• You adore tiny twisted cables
• You want to settle in with something really beautiful and intricate

They’re not for you if:

• You don’t like charts (the pattern uses charts)
• You hate swatching (you need to swatch to check your needle size)