Tags
children, design, hand-knitwear design, handmade, kids, knee-highs, Knit New Haven, knitting, knitting patterns, Sock knitting, Three Irish Girls, toddler, toddlers, yarn
The chill of fall is in the air! We’ve been getting up to cold temps in the morning, and gratefully still enjoying lovely warm afternoons. So, in the spirit of back to school knitting and little girls who can’t quite part with those lovely dresses despite the cooler temps, I’d like to share a newly published pattern today.
Introducing “Double Dutch” children’s Knee High Socks!
This pattern has just been published by the colorful yarn dyer Three Irish Girls. For the sample, they sent me the fantastic and colorful “Mad Hatter” colorway in Beckon Stretch Merino. The name inspired a bit of an “Alice” moment to the photoshoot…
And Lil One was literally jumping for joy that she had new socks…
That is, until I told her they had to go back to the yarn company.
This was my first collaborative effort with a yarn dyer, and it turned out patience was the most important aspect of getting this out. These photos were taken late last summer, and only now I’m able to share them, so I’m super excited to finally share the fun.
The pattern was inspired by my Lil One’s love of skirts and dresses, even in cold weather. I created this pair first:
Then to my delight it was accepted as part of the collection being created by Three Irish Girls, and I got to work writing, editing and sampling in the exciting new colorway which was also unreleased at the time.
So, the details: I went with toe up, and a twisted stitch pattern to satisfy my love of cabled knee-highs without having to break out an actual cable needle. The accordion structure of the ribbing makes them stay up nicely, and a smooth stockinette gusset on the foot makes them comfy and fit into shoes nicely. For a unisex look, all you have to do is stop before the calf gusset and you’ll have great basics for all your little ones. For the size shown M (7-11 children’s shoe size) I used just about half of one skein of the Beckton Stretch Merino. The pattern is sized for babies to pre-teens, and is mostly written with charts for the calf gusset. You can find out more (including pictures of the construction details) on Ravelry.
I love the Three Irish Girls yarn, but if you’re looking for a more basic yarn, the classic solid version made with the easy to find Cascade Heritage Sock. In my own LYS we just got a fantastic selection of Claudia Hand Painted sock yarn in that would be a fantastic substitute for this pattern. Check out the delicious bins of colorful choices!
Just in case you’re interested, I’m teaching a toe-up beginner sock class this month – it has been rescheduled, so contact Knit New Haven for new dates and details.
Vivere Nel Colore 