This sock pattern is designed to be knit for Advent, the 12 days or Christmas, or at your own pace for your own winter celebrations.

Advent: Knit the cuffs in advance and knit one colourwork section each day leading up to Christmas.

12 days of Christmas: Start on Christmas day, and knit one section of each sock until January 6.
Solstice or any other winter festival: knit at your own pace to finish in time for your holiday celebration.

The pattern is written as a cuff-down sock, with a forethought heel (just like an afterthought heel, but with waste yarn in place so you don’t have to cut into your sock). It can be knit toe-up with some minor manipulation of the charts and instructions.

Heels, toes and cuffs for my sample were done on 2.25 mm needles. Colourwork was done on a 2.75 mm needle.

In my sock sample, I used a total of 370 yds of fingering weight yarn to fit a 9.5” foot, knitting the smaller size. Scraps and leftovers needed for each stripe range from 2 - 5 grams of each colour, per colourwork section. Your yardage will vary depending on the gauge, needle size, and yarn you choose, as well as the finished sock size.

As with most colourwork, you can adjust the fit by adjusting the gauge (by going up or down in needle size) and you can go up to sport or DK weight yarn on a larger needle, if desired, for a larger foot size.

I’ve included charts for the foot and leg sections with roughly the colours I used on one sock. I have also included colouring charts if you want to test your colour choices in advance, or if you want to have a specific chart for your colour choices to make for easier chart reading. In most cases, one colouring chart will be enough to test 3 or more colour options.

You can make your socks identical, or you can really have fun with colours and make them wild. You can keep to one colour palette or really let loose. You can even swap leftovers with friends for almost matching socks.