These socks are inspired by Clara Oswald – companion in the infamous BBC series Doctor Who. Known as the “impossible girl,” Clara is largely a mystery to audiences, as well as the Doctor himself; but throughout her adventures with the Doctor, she never finds herself less than impeccably dressed. These classy, whimsical socks remind me of socks Clara may wear to keep warm while traveling through planets of ice and snow, or just lounging by the fireplace in Victorian London.

This quick & easy sock pattern features two parallel mock cables running down the sides of the instep, adding a simple, yet quirky, detail to mostly vanilla socks. Quick to learn and easy to memorize, this pattern is perfect for sock beginners or as mindless TV knitting. (Plus, as a bonus, watching the “cables” add up marks your progress and makes these a very fast knit!) The pattern also features full directions for a slipped stitch heel flap. Happy knitting! :)

Errata - July 2015
In the previous PDF, the leg patterning instructed knitting the mock cable pattern on both sides of the sock, (front & back). The socks could be knitted either way; however, the pattern is meant to feature mock cables only on the front side of the socks. The pattern instructions have been updated to correct this. (This is the only change.)

Notes for anyone struggling with the “cluster” stitch:

My version of the “cluster 3” is a mock-cable version. The “cluster” in my pattern is performed BEFORE the stitches are worked. You should work the pattern up to the three stitch cluster section, STOP, and perform the cluster on the next three stitches on your left needle. Go to the third stitch on your left needle, and gently lift it up and over the first two - this stitch will fall off the needle, clustering the first two stitches together. Then, with the two clustered stitches remaining on the left needle, you perform the k1, yo, k1. This will get you back to three stitches.

(It’s easy to overthink because it’s kind of weird to be working with stitches on the left needle, but it’s very simple! No twisting or anything fancy required - just pull that third stitch up and over. As if you were binding it off backwards.)