Yesterday was really busy, and my planned Day 9* post fell through (I realized the thing is at home, I haven’t taken pictures of it, and the recipient hasn’t even opened it yet), which factors conflued to give me the perfect excuse to put off posting ’till today. But I think you’ll agree it was worth the wait.
What do you do when you have a dudely friend who is really into tea, and you want to knit him tea-themed socks, but there is no such thing on the internet as a sock pattern with leaves on it that doesn’t look girly? Honestly, I have no idea what you would do, but I designed my own. He got his gift in the mail just in time for Christmas, and now you get to partake in the giftage. I give you a new free sock pattern: Tea Time.
The idea was a variation on the traditional “clock” designs on socks, but modified to look more obviously like a clock. The tea theme is both in the light brown yarn (which could have been dyed with tea, but was actually dyed with black walnuts), and in the fact that the “hands” on the clock arms are in fact little tea leaves. There are actual eyelets involved, but I am confident they are subtle enough that they do not take away from the manliness of the socks. In a clever twist, when the socks are in their relaxed position off the foot, the hands sit at about four o’clock, traditional tea time. (Flip them over, and they sit at eight o’clock, the time I am most likely to have tea.)
In order to make the hands the same, this sock is constructed rather unusually: you knit the heel flap first, then the foot, then pick up and knit the leg last. This not only simplifies the construction of the leafy hands, but means that you can use up all your yarn while still getting a top-down fitting for the foot. In my book, this is having your cake and eating it too. It comes in three sizes, from Women’s Medium to Men’s Large. (Please note: the largest and smallest sizes have NOT been test knitted at this time; if you elect to knit these, would you please let me know if you have any issues?)
Here’s a secret just for the blog readers: The pattern calls for 100% Merino Fingering, which would be perfect for these babies. However, This pair was knit with My Backyard Sock, which I’m keeping on sale until it’s all gone. There’s one skein left in this colorway, if you feel led to snap it up.
So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! You can download this pattern for free by clicking here, or through the pattern’s new Ravelry page.
*apologies to Starcraft 2 players everywhere. I did try watching one episode of Day 9, out of some desperate insecure need for nerd cred, but I let it go. Real Time Strategy is just not for me; I’m sticking to adventure games and wimpy RPGs.
Osborn Fiber Studio 