This month has been very eventful at the picnic, as I’m sure you can imagine, with the release of The Big Acorn Race on March 9. I thought that after the book was finally out, I would be a little less busy than I had been during production. Boy was I wrong! I’m as busy as ever. But it is work that I love, so it never feels like real work. Still I am rather impressed with myself that even with everything happening, I found the time to complete my March pair of socks.

This month I decided to pair this super soft, hand-dyed merino from Cozy Rabbit Farm with another pattern from Janet Rehfeldt called “Cotton-Candy Confection.” This pattern has been my favorite so far. It’s just so unique and so very much fun.

Special features:

Toe-up method
Short-row heel
Stitch for foot: modified half-double crochet
Stitch for leg: alternating cable 6 stitches to the back and cable 6 stitches to the front

One of my favorite features of this stitch pattern is the way the toe is done. In order to create a tight toe beginning, the foundation round begins with slip stitches into the back loops (on the reverse) of the foundation chain on one side. Then you turn your work and work into the top, unused loops of the foundation chain as usual.

The foot is done in a modified half-double crochet. You yarn over and insert your hook into the next stitch. Then yarn over again, and pull the loop through the stitch and next loop on your hook. Yarn over again and pull through the last 2 loops on your hook.

It creates the appearance of tiny stitches while still getting the height of a half-double crochet. In other words, you get a delicate and tightly woven stitch pattern in half the time it would take to do the whole thing in a shorter stitch like single crochet. And it has a lot of movement to it as well–bonus! I’ll have to remember this stitch for other projects.

The next feature of this pattern that I absolutely love is the way the heel is shaped. I have never used short rows to create a heel in crochet, but it seems like the simplest and easiest solution.

First you create your short rows by crocheting to the end of each row, but leave the last stitch unworked. After you’ve created a triangle like the one above, you begin picking up the skipped stitches from each side edge of the heel as you continue working in rows.

And before you know it, ta-da! you are done with the heel and ready to begin the leg. My gosh, this heel is neater (and tighter–no holes!) than any sock I have ever knit. Crochet socks rule. But you knew that.

The leg on this sock is so much fun to do! It pairs front-post double crochet ribs with a really neat 6-stitch cable. For the cable, you skip 3 stitches, double-treble crochet in the next 3 stitches, then go back and double-treble crochet in the 3 stitches you skipped by working in front. On the next round, you complete each cable by crocheting in the skipped stitches from behind.

I really like the pairing of the yarn with this pattern. It was a lot of fun and I think that shows. Appropriately, I finished these socks the day before Easter and was able to wear these pastel beauties with pride. I think I made the Easter bunny jealous!

You may be pleased to hear that after several months of working from the same crochet sock pattern book, I am off to find a new designer to introduce you to. I ordered a few crochet sock pattern books from the library and I can’t wait to share with you what I discover. Join me next month for a fun new pattern and another pair of vibrant and colorful socks!

Check out previous months in this incredible year of the sock:

January

February