Note: This pattern is available either alone or together with the companion pattern “Diamonds” in the e-book “Stranding Practice Socks”.

Some years ago I ambitiously decided to design and execute a somewhat intricately snowflake-patterned sock. After happily knitting along for a week or two, I finally finished… only to discover, to my dismay, that there was NO way the sock would ever fit over my foot! Despite my careful check of gauge early on, my extremely tight stranding meant the sock could not stretch enough to get over my heel.

Out of the memory of that disaster, this duo of projects was born… titled “Stranding Practice Socks, Part I and II”. My goal: to design a fun, colorful, easily adaptable pattern with a repetitive, constant pattern requiring stranding over only a few stitches at a time, so that myself, and any other knitters wanting a pattern to practice stranded colorwork in the round, might easily execute it. However, I also wanted a project handsome and tailored-enough looking that experienced knitters would also enjoy it!

As such, “Jigsaw”, the first in the duo, contains the following attributes:

• Stranding only across 2 stitches at a time;
• Several rounds of one-color-only to give knitters a break between stranded rounds;
• A short row heel requiring no gusset and only 2-6 stitches total picked up
• Includes a complete size chart for eight different size options so that Jigsaw can fit any shoe size from kid’s 4 to Men’s 15
• Possibly one of my favorite attributes to add to any project, a neat knitted-in hem at the cuff that both prevents curling and looks elegant and tailored. Jigsaw adds the extra flair of a picot edge to this knitted-in hem!

As an added bonus for those unfamiliar with either a provisional cast-on or a knitted-in hem, I’ve included two pages of step-by-step color photographs to illustrate the entire process.

Though I chose a bright, Crayola-crayon color scheme of blue, cream, and orange, the socks could take on an entirely different feel with varying color schemes. I’m itching to try a gray/purple/lavender scheme… or perhaps a teal/green/brown… or perhaps a holiday scheme of red/green/white/…

Happy knitting, everyone! Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns - and, of course, I’d LOVE to see your finished projects too :)