Greetings, bluegirl knits readers! Chrissy Gardiner here. Nichole is letting me take over her blog for the day to tell you a little bit about my book, Toe-Up! Patterns and Worksheets to Whip Your Sock Knitting Into Shape.


Since Nichole is a fellow designer, I thought I'd delve into the designy details of a couple of the sock patterns in the book. Every sock has a story (some are more interesting than others, of course), so here are a couple of my favorites.

Peace Lily was a sock that struggled to find its place in the world, as it was originally slated for something completely different than my book.

I originally designed Peace Lily for a sock club using a gorgeous pink-and-green colorway from Fleece Artist. I was delighted with the results, which you can see here:


(Forgive my husband's rudimentary photography - they're much more lovely in person!)

I sent the sample and pattern on to the sock club folks, and they responded with the bad news that the pattern was a bit too similar in design to the previous month's pattern, which also used a traveling stitch motif although in a much different fashion than in Peace Lily. Oh, and could I still manage to design a different sock and get them a new sample in two weeks?

I happily rose to the challenge (what can I say - I work best under pressure) and came up with a lovely new pattern for the yarn. In the meantime, I decided that Peace Lily would be perfect for the new book I was working on.

Since the colorway I'd used for the original Peace Lily socks was an exclusive for the sock club, I needed to find another yarn to use for the book sample. I asked my friend Yvonne of LavenderSheep to design something specifically for these socks, and she came up with her delightful Peace Lily colorway, which is a perfect match for the design.

And now a little confession - you'll notice that these are the only socks not modeled on actual feet anywhere in the book. Unfortunately, the sample was knit to a slightly tighter gauge than the final pattern calls for, meaning they won't actually fit on my feet (yes, I acted as my own foot model for the rest of the shots in the book, along with my husband and kids - it truly was a family affair!). If I'd been knitting these for myself (a sample knitter made them for me and did a lovely job) I would've noticed the gauge error and been able to easily adjust. One of the main benefits of toe-up socks is the ability to try them on as you knit the foot (as shown in the cover photo).

Another sock club pattern that was given new life in the book is Diamond Lucy.


This was originally a top-down pattern designed for a small sock club several years ago. When I was deciding on new designs for the book, a friend of mine suggested that I rework this one since she really loved it the first time around and was sad it hadn't gotten wider distribution.

The pattern, however, turned out to be a bit high-maintenance. I had to go through several different yarns before I found the ideal fiber and color to show off the subtle brocade texture of the stitch pattern. Several months earlier, I'd picked up a skein of Blue Moon Seduction in a lovely light blue colorway called Blue Moonstone, and as soon as I swatched, it appeared that the yarn and pattern were made for each other. The subtle sheen of the Tencel and the light, uncomplicated semi-solid coloring really allowed the stitches to pop.

If you decide to attempt this pattern, which is one of the most beloved in the book (especially among people who see the trunk show and can admire it up-close and in-person), be sure to swatch and keep swatching to find the right yarn. In something that's too dark or in a yarn that's not as smooth as Seduction, the stitches can really get lost.

The fun of the design lies in the fact that it's symmetrical, with a right sock and left sock. It also features a linen-stitch heel flap (one of my favorite heel stitches of all time).

I hope you enjoyed this quick peek into the life of a couple of the socks in Toe-Up! You can find the book at your LYS or on Amazon. Now go knit some socks - you know you want to!


Nichole Here

Thanks Chrissy for sharing these sock stories with us from your fantastic book! If you do not have a copy of Toe-Up!, then you are really missing out. Chrissy does an amazing job of walking you step by step through the toe-up construction and then gives us beautiful designs as well and that's coming from a girl who has some issues with sock knitting as some of you may know from a past post.

So, with that said, on to the CONTEST. Yes, that's right, the CONTEST! Please leave me a comment educating me about why socks are so fantastic to knit and the comment that inspires me the most to knit some new socks will win a copy of Chrissy's book, Toe-Up! This is a challenge, truly, because I am pretty stubborn.

So, on to the contest!





Author: bluegirl -  Date: 25 Feb 2010 12:21 -  Tags: guests,contests
Visits: 3305 -  Comments: 13