Inspiration, as so often happens, comes from many sources, the Araucania mittens being the first. Looking at the stocking stitch, I realized that the wool would make a lovely, thick sock. I had also been pondering the garter rib in Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks for some time, and Googling "araucania nature wool socks" led me to the discovery that since the Nature Wool felts so readily, socks made from it would felt and conform to the wearer's feet -- a fascinating idea. I'm glad I didn't see these,
Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Taltutten socks from her "Transitions" Nature Wool Collection, until after I'd finished writing up my own pattern. I'm not the only one thinking about knee socks these days -- see Gabriella Chiarenza's gorgeous Clessidra knee socks in the Spring '07 Knitty, too!
The Nature Wool is lovely to work with, thick and wooly but still soft with a pleasant rusticness. I love the way that the kettle-dyed colors shift here and there, sometimes markedly but very subtly here, in this dyelot.
There are a fairly endless number of ways for incorporating leg shaping into a pattern. They don't always turn out they way they look on paper, though -- this, for example,
turned out like this,
which is okay, but not what I had in mind. In the end, I opted for a simple V-shaped gusset,
which is easily adaptable to different calf sizes. You don't really realize how long your legs are until you knit yourself a pair of knee socks -- I ended up adding two full inches more because of the horizontal stretch of the fabric once it was on my leg!
And it's a bonus that they look really good with my new shoes!
I like your socks. That's such a cool way to increase for the calf. I'm in love with knee socks at the moment too but there isn't enough sock yarn in my stash to knit them. So I'll have to wait for an opportunity to shop online and get more yarn.
Posted by: erin | March 27, 2007 at 07:08 PM
Great socks. I really like your approach to the calf shaping. Beautiful pictures too.
Posted by: Guro | March 27, 2007 at 11:26 PM
i do love that last photo, too, the rustic wool and the brown shoes. so comfy!
Posted by: kelli Ferrigan | March 28, 2007 at 05:55 AM
I love that color! I made a pair of regular sized retro ribs for my Mom and I really liked the pattern. I've been pondering making a pair in black for my husband. Of course I'm waiting for a sunny day so I can see what I'm doing.
Posted by: Amy | March 28, 2007 at 07:50 AM
Love the colour!
But do they really stay up? I have heard this is a problem with hand knit knee highs.
Posted by: Elizabeth | March 28, 2007 at 09:41 AM
Elizabeth, the socks are very snug, alarmingly so at first, but they loosened up a bit. It might be because they are so long, or because they are snug, but even though they got a bit baggy around the ankles they still stayed up pretty much all day. They drooped a bit but not more than an inch or so. Not bad, I thought.
Posted by: Jeanne | March 28, 2007 at 05:11 PM
Lovely socks; beautiful color; clever shaping.
Posted by: Mary Tess | March 29, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Well, regardless of whether your decreases worked the way you hoped, the socks look fabulous!
Posted by: --Deb | March 30, 2007 at 05:36 AM
Gorgeous, cozy socks! I love the subtle color-shifts of the Nature Wool and the calf-shaping you designed is so wonderfully lovely.
Posted by: Marie | March 31, 2007 at 01:47 AM
Love them! We're heading into summer now, but once the weather starts getting cooler again I imagine a pair of knee socks would be perfect.
Posted by: Mary | April 02, 2007 at 07:14 AM
They are great knee-hi's! Very impressed with the v-shaped gusset at the calf, too! ;)
Posted by: Kylie | April 16, 2007 at 08:57 PM
wow. just lovely. I aspire to knit something as fabulous. And, I never thought of using a more worseted weight yarn, great idea.
Posted by: Sarah | April 20, 2007 at 06:22 AM