On socks...

You know, I never really did understand why people would make lace socks. It seems kind of pointless, right? I mean, putting holes in your socks on purpose? So imagine my surprise when my sock design for Elinor's Socks Revived contest formed in my head and it was lace. Lace? Yup, lace.

These will be called the Siberian Iris socks, and they will be available for you sometime in mid-April, if all goes according to plan. Siberian Iris make me nostalgic for the clump that we had in the house I grew up in. They came from my great-grandmother's garden but did not make the move with my parents. I loved them for their beautiful dark blue-purple color and their delicacy. They are quite small, unlike the usual iris you might see coming up soon. Think the difference between paperwhites and daffodils. (By the way, is the plural of "iris" irises or iris?)

These socks are meant to evoke the Siberian Iris petals through the curving V's which run down the back and front of the sock and the "beard" (the fluffy raised part that runs down the middle of the petals) by use of a raised, eyelet ribbing and the side panels. They have a stockinette heel and a wedge toe. Though the socks are lace, the pattern is very simple to memorize - there is only one chart for each size. Ok, two charts. But the other is the ribbing chart, which totals eight rounds. You can handle that, right? The only lace stitches used are yarn-overs and decreases.

And the reality of spring is that it's not as warm as we like to pretend that it is. Given a choice, I would run around barefoot all year long, but sadly I have chronically cold feet. I will consider these socks to be a good compromise between warmth and the feel of air moving over my toes this spring.

Note: The movement of the stitches can be preserved without the lace by replacing the yarn-overs with a lifted increase, a tip I will include in the final pattern.