This design is quite simply the most fun pair of socks I’ve ever created.

They emerged magically from a day spent swatching and playing around with some slipped stitch patterns. A thought in my head very quickly turned into the leg of a sock and I was addicted !

I then spent a joyous time in my yarn stash, looking for the perfect colour combinations. This for me, is my idea of heaven !

The beautiful swirly fabric appearing beneath my needles brought me such excitement. My head was full of all the fabulous colour possibilities.

The Swirlywoo Socks knit up quickly, and although they may look complicated they are in fact deceptively simple to knit.

So, grab yourself two gorgeous skeins and get swirling !

Sock Details

The socks are knitted top down and use a slipped stitch design. Care should be taken to ensure that your gauge is not tighter than that stated in the pattern. I would recommend a gauge of 8 stitches to the inch.

Sizes

The pattern comes in 3 sizes - Small (56 sts), Medium (64 sts) and Large (72 sts). The stitch pattern is both written and charted. Instructions are written for the magic loop method but other methods can of course be used. The pattern includes 2 video tutorials for how I like to alternate my yarns, using both magic loop and double pointed needles. The design has been test knitted for all 3 sizes.

Yarn

The pattern sample pair of socks were knitted using one skein of Pixie Yarns in the colourway ‘Wonderland’, and one skein of my own hand dyed yarn in the colourway ‘Fairy Garden’.

The size medium uses approximately 40g of colour 1 (Wonderland in my case), and approximately 25g of colour 2. This will vary a little, depending on your leg and foot length. The sample socks were knitted for a size 6 foot (UK).

When choosing your yarns, you should ensure you have a good contrast between your 2 colours. I have also swatched using a self striping for my colour 2 and it worked wonderfully.