These socks were inspired by my paternal grandparents, Blanche and Geoffrey. Blanche taught me to knit when I was very wee and knit for dear Geoffrey, a long-standing Mason, until the day she died. He has closets and drawers stuffed with beautiful jumpers and cardigans; so you can imagine my surprise to discover his vast collection contained not a single hand-crafted sock.

To remedy this sorry situation, I decided to create a pattern for my Masonic grandpapa – elegant yet comfortable, sturdy yet wearable – perfect for presiding over secret functions and learning new silly handshakes.

The ‘Masonic Lodge’ sock pattern is Part One of my Dangerous Knitting series. Curious about what I could get out of 100 g yarn, I set out to design a pattern that would take me as close to the last yard as possible. It turns out you can make a man-sized pair of these socks using exactly 96 g of Colinette Jitterbug, or 92 g of Shelridge Farms Soft Ultra Touch.

20 August 2009 New version available -- some clarifications, plus the charts now have a legend. Please use this version!