Winter is the time to curl up with blankets, hot drinks, a good book or movie and layers of the most comforting knits. These plaid socks remind me of cozy layers of flannel, warm woolens, and simple pleasures. The pattern provides a size for everyone in the family to have matching or co-ordinating socks: baby/ornament (toddler, youth, teen/adult S, adult M, adult L).

Yardage will vary with the size chosen, gauge, and length of leg/foot. Samples and test knits used the following yarding per matching pair:
Baby/ornament: 80 yds
Toddler: 151 yds
Youth: 235 yds
Adult small: 287 yds
Adult medium: 478 yds
Adult large: 640 yds.
A pair of adult small socks with dark background and MC heels, toes, and cuffs used 46 g MC (eggplant); 16 g CC1 (natural); 30 g CC2 (lavender) of Mondim by Retrosaria (421 yds / 100g).

Alternate yarn suggestion: Knit Picks Stroll has some lovely colours at an affordable price point. A 50g skein of each colour will suffice for most sizes although a contrasting mini for heels, toes, cuffs may be required for the largest sizes.

The pattern is written as a cuff-down sock, with a forethought heel (just like an afterthought heel, but with waste yarn in place so you don’t have to cut into your sock). If you have experience with toe-up socks, the chart is simple enough to be plugged in to your favourite formula.

As with most colourwork, you can adjust the fit by adjusting the gauge (by going up or down in needle size) and you can go up to sport or DK weight yarn on a larger needle if you would like warmer house socks and just choose the size that matches your gauge. I highly recommend using the baby/ornament size as your gauge swatch if you are new to colourwork.

I have included charts for a dark background as well as a light background using the same colours to more easily match up with yarn choices.

I have included a set of basic instructions for making a felted stocking version of the pattern using the same charts as the sock. The smaller needle sizes listed above are for socks, and larger needle sizes are for the stocking.

In my stocking sample, I used less than one skein of each of the three colours of Topsy Farm Pure Sheep Wool 2 ply.