These socks are made up of simple ribbing and a twisted stitch cable design. Overall though, the sock construction requires intermediate knitting skills. Knowledge of sock construction, twisted stitches and cabling without needles is recommended.

The braids are made of 1/1 cables. You may wish to cable without a cable needle for a faster knitting experience. The technique of cabling without a cable needle is described in the Knitty Winter 2007 issue, located here.

There are 2 sizes for this pattern:
The medium pattern is made up of a repeat of 18 stitches plus 3. The pattern is repeated 3 times, creating 6 alternating columns of rib & braid. While the cast on is only 57 stitches, test knitting showed that the stretchiness of the ribbing should allow this sock to fit most size legs.

The large pattern adds one extra column of rib and braid (9 sts), creating a cast on of 63 stitches. By adding one extra column, you will end up with 2 matching columns of braid cables beside each other, instead of all columns of braid alternating.

To help accommodate a range of sizes, a stretchy cast on is recommended, such as the Twisted German cast on which is described here. You may also wish to knit the cuff with a needle 1-2 sizes larger than you plan to use for the rest of the sock.

Materials: Yardage estimates are based on samples knit in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock and Knit Picks Stroll. It is recommended that you use yarn of similar weight/yardage, otherwise your yardage requirements may vary. The pattern will show best in solid or tonal colors.

The instructions reference the sole and instep stitches rather than specifying needles, allowing you to use your preferred method (4 or 5 needles, magic loop, 2 circular needles). Each pattern repeat is approximately 2” long. If you wish to add length to the leg of the sock, add the appropriate number of pattern repeats and adjust your yarn requirements accordingly.