This pattern appeared in the 2021 Supersock World Championship Competition as the Cool-down sock.

I’ve been interested in tiling (or allover) patterns for quite a while. Most recently, I have focused on the ones that do not display as horizontal as Fair Isle and Nordic colorwork patterns do. I find they have a quite different feel to them that is anything but static. Here’s one of my simplest non-horizontal patterns: after I knit it up I decided it looked like confetti so I named these my Birthday Party Socks.

These socks are worked top down with a standard heel flap and a wide toe. I used a different yarn for the cuffs and heels as I love that look whenever there is variegated yarn involved. This pattern is appropriate for an intermediate knitter with experience in reading charts, but is interesting enough to be enjoyable for expert knitters also. The design of the ankle/gusset area is well suited to those with thick ankles/ high arches and/or wide feet. Folks without high arches or wide feet will want to size down. The colorwork pattern is given as a chart. It is sized for men or women with 4 sizes. 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 recommendations: a solid, light colored yarn for the background, a bright variegated or dark solid for the “sprinkles” and a coordinating solid color that picks up a shade from the variegated yarn for the heels and toes.