Sometimes I’m a big fan of the unpredictable color pooling that you tend to get with indie dyed yarn and sometimes I just don’t want to see it; I want the colors to play nice with each other. When I started knitting these socks, I was very excited about using this gorgeous yarn from Happy Fuzzy Yarn. It started pooling a little on the cuffs which was ok, but then the effect became very strong on the leg so I just had to do something about it. I’d been working with slip stitch patterns so after a little experimentation, I put together a simple slip stitch pattern that busted the color pooling reasonably well and added a little bit of subtle texture as well. This worked great on the leg and a lovely mottled color distribution was produced.

Trouble ensued at the heel of the sock, however, since the circumference of the sock enlarged enough that the color pooling came back. Aaack! Back to the drawing board! So I frogged back to the contrast color heel flap and continued the contrast color from the heel to the sole while maintaining the main color yarn on the instep—a.k.a. intarsia knitting in the round. This eliminated the pooling and the remainder of the instep blended nicely with the leg. I continued with the contrasting color yarn on the toe to finish up.

The particular colorway for the main color shown in the sample socks was called David’s Meadow and I really think that the slip stitch pattern accentuates that meadow-like appearance. Thus, I ended up calling them Spring Meadow Socks.

These socks are knit top down with a traditional heel flap and gusset. I give both a charted and written pattern. This sock pattern is appropriate for intermediate and advanced knitters. Instructions are given for 3 sizes: Ladies S/M, L and XL (Ladies L = Men’s M and Ladies XL = Men’s L).

Note: I knit socks on 4 DPNs at a time, I have attempted to generalize my instructions for folks who use other needle set-ups.

Yarn Suggestions:

• Main color: indie dyed yarn in multiple colors that are prone to pooling. Long color gradients are not appropriate, the pattern is not going to show up. You should see a medium amount of color pooling in the cuffs as shown in the pictures
• Contrasting color: a solid color that contrasts nicely with the main color or picks up one of its hues

Materials:
Yarn as shown:

• Main color: Happy Fuzzy Yarn, Corrie Sock. 75% Superwash Corriedale wool, 25% nylon. David’s Meadow colorway. 55 g used for size L
• Contrasting color: Classic Elite Yarns, Yuri (fingering). 75% Superwash Merino, 25% nylon. Color: 5050 (gold). 32 g used for size L Needles in size US 0 and size US 1 OR sizes needed to obtain the gauge
• Stitch markers (optional)
• Tapestry needle

Gauge:
31 ST = 4 inches in stockinette ST using US 1 OR size needed to obtain the gauge
26 rows = 2 inches

Finished sizes: Ladies S/M (L and XL). The S/M size is suitable for large child size, the L size is suitable for men’s M, the XL size is suitable for men’s L.