A few months ago, I was visiting the only yarn shop left here in Lexington (shout out to ReBelle) and a pile of cake sock yarn drew my attention. Was it all of the glorious colors? Nope. It was the gray gradient: Globe Thistle. I planned to knit a pair of socks, but the more I looked at the yarn, I realized that the best way to showcase the subtle color changes would be in over-the-knee socks, especially since the topic for the Fashion Framework article was knee-high socks. A quick email to Wonderland Yarns, and I knew what I would be doing Christmas week.

When designing knee-high socks (or longer), it is important to make an accommodation for the calf. I opted to create gussets, both for the calf and the thigh. I didn’t want the gussets to be afterthoughts. I wanted them to be an integral part of the design, and they determined the stitch pattern for the sock.

The cable pattern is established on the toes and is also part of the short-row heels. Charts are provided for both.

A word about sizing: the only difference in the sizes is the foot length. Consider going up a needle size, but this will impact the length of the sock. Since it is worked toe up, you can try it on.