This is the round 2 pattern of Sock Madness 19, and is now available to the general public.

The idea for this pattern came about over two years ago, when I was exploring bias knitting and looking for applications where bias knitting is the best approach. I don’t like to make my knitting complicated for no good reason; if I’m doing something complicated, it has to either have a practical purpose, or achieve an effect that is hard to reproduce with easier techniques. It occurred to me that a chevron pattern on the bias makes a cool staircase design that is otherwise hard to do. Thus began a lot of swatching, sketching, and charting; many months later, I finally have something I’m happy with, and I hope you’ll agree that it’s worth the effort. The name comes from the Alan Jackson hit, because the way the pattern flows reminds me of a river.

For the main colour, I strongly recommend using a self-striping yarn, or even better, one of those awful self-patterning yarns with speckly “fair isle” sections that eat up all your pretty cables and lace. Some variegated yarns might work too. This design will get lost in a solid yarn.

There is only one size, approximately equivalent to a 70-stitch vanilla sock; however, the bias chevron fabric is very stretchy. The pattern is charted where possible. It’s a rather long pattern, not because it’s difficult, but because the unusual construction doesn’t lend itself well to repetition.