The Auntie Betty Aran Sock Collection is a single recipe that you can use to make three related pairs of socks - simply choose which pair you want to make, and choose the right chart to use as you go along.

Then why not make another pair?

Many years ago, when I was just a small boy, a very close family friend was (to me) an old lady known to us as Auntie Betty. She was a prodigious knitter, and one year, I was presented with an Aran jumper that she had knitted for me. Unsurprisingly, the 8-year-old me had no knowledge of knitting, and was pretty unimpressed with this “dull and unfashionable” gift.

Fast-forward thirty-something years, and I too am now a knitter. I now have a much greater understanding of the amount of work that would have gone into the jumper, and therefore, the sheer amount of love and care, and the high regard that she must have held me in. This hit me like a stone, and I felt very guilty about not having liked the present more at the time, or been more effusive about it.

I was telling this story at a knitters’ group, and one of the assembled ladies, knowing that socks were my thing, said casually that I should design a pair of socks, based on an Aran jumper, and name them after my Auntie Betty as a tribute to her. It was like an epiphany! Of course that’s what I should do, and so I have!

Using traditional Aran stitch patterns, ribbed sections and twisted stitches, these miniature nods towards the great Aran jumpers look great on your feet, and are delightfully squishy and comfortable too!

Each of the three patterns is written for three different sizes. If your gauge doesn’t entirely match mine, feel free to try different needle sizes to get the perfect fit.

Why not swatch by making a cuff, and if it fits, just continue right on down the leg?