The Maud Sock has a lovely texture. The slip stitch pattern we call the “Cat’s Ear” is especially nice with hand dyed yarns, distributing colour hither and thither so it resists colour pooling. The cushy texture of this stitch suits men and ladies both. This sock pattern features an after-thought heel. If you are unfamiliar with this technique or new to sock knitting in general you will be surprised at how fun knitting an after-thought sock can be. Just knit away, concentrate on your lovely yarn and your sweet stitch pattern and leave the heel knitting till the very end.
Another bonus of an after-thought heel is that if the heels of your favourite socks should wear out you can just replace them; no need to reknit any other part of the socks, no darning required. We have highlighted the after-thought technique in this sock pattern by knitting the heel in a complementary colour.
Maud Sock gets its name from a custom colour The Knit Cafe commissioned from Zen Yarn Garden for our Yarn Club 2017. Zen Yarn Garden is well known for their painterly, yarn colours inspired by beautiful works of art, so we asked them if they would create a colour after a whimsical painting by Nova Scotia artist Maud Lewis called “White Cat”.

Materials: MC: one 100gr skein of Zen Garden Superfine Fingering, 90% superwash merino, 10% nylon, 365m, CC: small amount of fingering yarn in a complimentary colour (aprox 25m) for the heel, we used Mineville Sock Yarn.
Needles: 2.5 mm double pointed needles
Other supplies: small amount of waste yarn, in contrast colour for the ‘after-thought’ technique, darning needle and scissors.
Sizes: S, M, L, XL
Gauge: 17.5 sts and 26 rows/5 cm in Cat’s Ear pattern.
16 sts and 24 rows/ 5 cm in stocking stitch