Non-knitters go on vacation and buy a t-shirt or fridge magnet as a souvenir and are happy. Easy-peasy; a quick visit to a couple of souvenir ye olde gifte shoppes and—boom--done! We knitting addicts have a slightly harder time of it: when we’re on vacation, we go to great lengths to identify and visit the best local yarn store(s) and only then do we have a grand old time purchasing oodles of squishy souvenir yarn. (Of course, the stash at home is conveniently irrelevant somehow, since it’s at home and the knitter is never coming back to this lys, so better stock up while you can!).

And so it was and is and forever will be with me. That’s just what floats my boat. I adore finding a new lys and chatting up the folks who work there. Thus, on a recent trip to the Atlanta area to visit family, I had the
opportunity to browse and buy at the awesome shop Eat.Sleep.Knit. in
Dallas, Georgia. This shop specializes in hand-dyed/painted yarn from many different indie dyers. Exactly my cup of tea!

One of the several skeins that I purchased that day was this gorgeous yarn from Squoosh Fiberarts in an incredibly yummy colorway called Margarita. As I was winding this yarn, I just couldn’t get margaritas out of my head so I was compelled to create a pattern that has the outline of a margarita or martini glass embedded in the lace itself. The glasses are not terribly obvious, they are subtle enough to merge into a demure and well behaved lace pattern if you don’t look too closely. If you peer at the triangle outlines for a minute or two, however, you’ll see the happy little glasses stacked up on top of each other.

These socks are knit top down with a traditional heel flap and gusset. I give both charted and written instructions for the stitch patterns used. This sock pattern is appropriate for intermediate knitters. Instructions are given for 3 sizes: Ladies S/M, L and XL.

I knit socks on 4 DPNs at a time, I have attempted to generalize my instructions for folks who use other needle set-ups.

Suggested yarn:
Heavily speckled, self-striping or self-patterning yarn is not recommended—the pattern will be completely lost. Best to stick with solid colors or slight tonal shades. Lighter shades tend to show the pattern better than darker colors. You don’t have to go with light green, of course! Other solid, light colored shades will look grand also.

Materials:

• Beefcake Sock by Squoosh Fiberarts in colorway Margarita, 75% SW Merino, 25% Nylon. 83 g. or 385 yards for size L as shown.
• Needles in size US 1 OR sizes needed to obtain the gauge
• Stitch markers
• Tapestry needle

Gauge:
39 ST = 4 inches in stockinette ST using US 1 OR size needed to obtain the gauge
25 rows = 2 inches

Finished sizes: Ladies S/M (L and XL). Size L sock measurement after blocking but without stretching: bottom of heel to cuff: 10”, length of foot from back of foot to tip of toe: 10.25 “, circumference of leg: 8”, circumference of foot: 3.75”.