I am influenced by the beauty and culture of Montana, and name my patterns to celebrate landmarks and regions of the state.

I grew up on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, and one of the tribes represented there is the Salish. It is a beautiful and rich culture, and the land reflects its beauty. Salish Winds is a tribute to the place and people with whom I grew up.

These socks have a cool slipped stitch pattern with cables on both sides of the slipped stitch pillars. When using hand-dyed yarn, I like some texture to break up any color pooling, and a slipped stitch provides the perfect amount of texture to show off the variations in the yarn.

The pattern is written for three sizes, small, medium, and large

The cuffs, heels, and toes have a contrasting color, which requires around 20 grams of fingering weight yarn. I have used size 2 needles to get gauge in the Salish Winds Chart pattern, and size 1 for heels and toes for better wear.

I used my own hand-dyed yarn for the sample. Hand-dyed yarn is beautiful for this pattern, but too much variation will distort the pattern. A tonal hand-dyed or any semi-solid sock yarn would work best for these socks.

The pattern is written for magic loop but you may use DPNs, a 9-inch circular, or two circular needles and accomplish the same effects.

The pattern includes the Fish Lips Kiss Heel (available for purchase on www.Ravelry.com or https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel by Sox Therapist for $1.00), but you may use any heel you like.