Balthazar's Jumper Socks by Kathleen Sperling

Balthazar's Jumper Socks

Knitting
June 2015
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
37 stitches and 37 rows = 4 inches
in stranded patterns
US 1½ - 2.5 mm
440 - 520 yards (402 - 475 m)
women's, men's
English
This pattern is available from wipinsanity.blogspot.com for $4.99.

I’m a big fan of “Nothing Much To Do”, a web series based on Shakespeare’s play, “Much Ado about Nothing”. It was created by The Candle Wasters, a group of four gifted young New Zealand women. They decided to continue the story by doing a new Shakespeare adaptation, called “Lovely Little Losers”, and based on the play “Love’s Labour’s Lost”. One character from the original series who’s been brought into the new one is fandom-favourite and musician extraordinaire, Balthazar Jones (Reuben Hudson). A promo shot for the new series showed him wearing a beautiful sweater (’jumper’ in New Zealand parlance) with different geometric patterns, so naturally, I was inspired to adapt it into socks!

Other buying options:
* Patternfish

For more information on the inspiration for the pattern:

Size information

  • women’s: finished leg/foot girth: 8”, leg length to top of heel flap: 6.25”
  • men’s: finished leg/foot girth: 9.25”, leg length to top of heel flap: 6.75”

Skills required

  • knitting and purling
  • increasing and decreasing
  • chart reading
  • stranded knitting
  • grafting
  • working small circumferences in the round (DPNs, magic loop, or two circulars)
  • patience

Yarn requirements

(Yardages given are approximates; this pattern makes a great sock yarn stashbuster!)

  • women’s: 120yds MC, 90yds CC1, 50yds CC2, 100yds CC3, 80yds CC4
  • men’s: 150yds MC, 110yds CC1, 60yds CC2, 110yds CC3, 90yds CC4

Model shown was made in the small size with a 9.5” long foot. Yardages given for the men’s size assume a foot about 10.5” long. Details on customizing foot length are included in the pattern instructions, but keep in mind that if you make the feet longer, you’ll use up more yarn.

Other materials needed

  • stitch markers

  • stitch holder

  • tapestry needle (for grafting and weaving in ends)