The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand, where we live. Part of the river is the location for a couple of the Lord of the Rings movies. It flows through Mesopotamia, which is a place close to my family’s hearts as it’s one of the places we explored soon after we moved to this gorgeous part of the country.

Rangitata Socks use a lace pattern that echoes the pattern the river makes as it flows apart then comes back together to form the braids that make the river such a spectacle from above. The lace braids on these socks run up one side of the foot and there’s another wee narrow iteration running up the outside back of the leg.

These pretty socks are knitted in the round, from the toe up, on circular needles. The pattern is written for three sizes and it has two lace panels and lots of stocking stitch.

The pattern uses Judy Becker’s Magic Cast On method and a gusset and heel flap. There are links to the tutorials for these methods within the pattern.

This pattern is written for three sizes: small, medium and large. They will fit feet with an approximate circumference of 21cm, 23cm and 26cm, respectively.

Supplies:

• Up to 100g of 4ply sock yarn
• three stitch markers
• darning needle
• 2.25mm (US 1) circular knitting needle. These instructions are written for magic looping, but you can use your preferred method of sock knitting.

Thank you to my tech editor and the group of lovely test knitters who’ve helped me to get the Rangitata Sock pattern written and published.

Errata: Please ensure that on Page 5, you match the instructions for the Left Leg to the ones on the Right Leg, otherwise you’ll be a stitch out. This only applies to patterns bought before 28 June 2017, especially printed patterns.