Welcome to the Solid Socks December 2020/Jan 2021 Mystery Sock Knitalong! I am so happy to be back with such a lovely group of people and can’t wait to see all the beautiful socks I know you will produce. These socks will be knit top-down with a heel flap and you’ll be working several different versions of twisted stitches plus one easy specialty stitch to produce a sock that can be worn by everyone.

The pattern will be revealed in a series of 4 clues that will be released once a week through the month of December 2020 as follows:

• Clue 1 – Tuesday, December 1st

• Clue 2 – Tuesday, December 8th

• Clue 3 – Tuesday, December 15th

• Clue 4 – Tuesday, December 22nd

Because it is a mystery sock, there won’t be any photos of the finished sock included in the published clues, and I would ask that you “hide” photos of your work behind a spoiler alert photo on your project page until the final clue is published on the 22nd December. I had several lovely volunteers (aimeeRN, jdpelikan, beckymerr, nicolasina and BumbleKnits) test knit this pattern for me, so I’m sure we’ll have all your questions covered.

The pattern is written for three sizes: Small (Medium, Large), which correspond to a foot circumference of approximately 16cm (18cm, 20.5cm)/6” (7”, 8”) unstretched. The fabric of this sock has about the same elasticity as a plain vanilla sock.

You’ll need between 350 and 425 meters (385-465 yards) fingering weight/sock yarn. I know I’m stating the obvious, but because this is the Solid Socks group, your yarn must be a solid colour in order to qualify for prizes from this MKAL - if unsure, check with our wonderful mods ahead of time. I knit the size Large for a men’s size 10 (US) foot using our sponsor’s Patte de Velours CatNap yarn, which had 425m/465yds to the skein and I had 18 grams leftover. I also knit the size Medium using Invictus Yarns Master of my Feet and again, had yarn leftover.

The pattern calls for 2.25mm/US 1 needles, either one or two circular(s) or a set of 5 Double-Pointed Needles (DPN) per your preference. As with all patterns, gauge is important, so choose the needle size you need to achieve the gauge of 8 sts and 12 rows to every 2.5cm/inch (stockinette st).

And now for an explanation of the name..

“Closure” according to Ellen Goodman:

“There’s a trick to the ‘graceful exit.’ It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, or a relationship is over — and let it go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance to our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving up, rather than out.”

When I designed this pattern in the fall of 2020, I had been working from home for 8 months, I had cancelled two holidays, I was feeling extraordinarily worried about my older parents who live on the other side of the Atlantic and I was preparing for a very quiet Christmas. We were already reading everywhere how 2020 has been a year to forget and I’m sure that by the time this MKAL starts, this theme will only have grown in popularity. So because we all need it, here is my offer of Closure…