A new take on the old

Way back in April, I was skimming threads in the Ravelry group, Sock Knitters Anonymous, when I saw a post announcing a sock design contest by Lorna’s Laces.

After reading the rules, I remembered I had some leftover Shepherd Sock from the Slytherin socks. It seemed like a perfect project to work on during the forthcoming weekend’s trip up north. So I packed myself a “design kit” plus one extra project (you never know, right?).

You see, ever since I knit the English Crystal Design from Kinzel’s First Book of Modern Lace Knitting, I’ve thought it would be interesting to rework this motif for socks. So I decided I’d try and give form to my visualization during the long weekend.

It took a while; two challenges I struggled with were 1) not second-guessing myself (should I let the stitch pattern spiral, or not?), and 2) figuring out a nice transition between the large and small motifs. Much tinkering, knitting, tinking, re-knitting, and frogging ensued until I achieved the result and look I wanted.

This.

The taper point of the lace pattern wasn’t planned… I originally envisioned lace all over the instep, but the strong diagonal lines begged me to try tapering it, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results.

Once the sock, pattern, and charts were complete, I mailed them off, and waited. One day in late May, I got an email telling me that I had won. I won? Once I got over my shock, I ran around screaming excitedly (well, ok, not really), but I was giggly!

Many thanks to Amanda and Lorna’s Laces for the contest, and to Jessica for sample/test knitting and helping smooth away as many problems as possible with the pattern. Her sock was knit in one of the new Fall 2008 colors, Woodlawn. (Be sure to check out that link… it includes the other contest winners; they are all great designs!) The pattern is now listed on Ravelry. :)