“(…) Included here are some of the traditional patterns from around Britain and other parts of the world. Some have been given a new twist, but others are reproduced in their original, authentic form, so that you can makes socks for yourself or your friends that are the “real thing.” I have chosen yarns that are readily available — some soft and luxurious, some dense and hardwearing — and produced a collection of 25 patterns for hand-knitted socks, which show knitting styles familiar to us all. Cables, Fair Isle, Argyle, lace stitches, gansey stitches, and multicolored patterns adorn socks for wearing on country walks or while lounging on the sofa, which look as good with walking boots or wellingtons as they do with pretty dresses and heels. The possibilities are endless.”
—Country Weekend Socks by Madeline Weston
The whole time I was going through this book I was thinking Madeline Weston…Madeline Weston…where do I know that name from? Then it hit me, and I pulled my copy of Sweater Girls and realized it was the same author. The photographic styling is very similar, and the patterns are of the same high quality. Most of them are knit using Rowan brand yarns, which makes me think the author was asked to design with their yarns specifically in mind. I didn’t think Rowan made a sock yarn (and turns out according the main website they don’t), but it is very easy to find another comparable yarn with some nylon, etc. content. Personally, I need some nylon content in my sock yarns because of how roughly I treat my socks.
The designs themselves are arranged into sections by technique, such as cable-focused, color-work, and the like. I looked at the cover socks, Argyle Over-the-Knee Socks and immediately fell in love. They are knit flat on straight needles using intarsia to shape the characteristic diamond pattern, which means quite a lot of seaming up the back of the leg when you’re done, but that reminds me of the visible seam up the back of old-fashioned stockings, which works well for this pattern. You’d definitely want to be very careful with the seam itself, because done carelessly it could look very messy. Do you hear that, self? The yarn itself is a 100% superwash wool, which isn’t a bad choice, especially for a pair of show-stoppers like these that might not get worn very frequently, so the lack of nylon wouldn’t bother me that much. The chosen yarn is more of a DK weight (and again, something that knits to the same gauge but has some nylon or other another blend built for hard-wearing knits could be easily substituted) so knitting a pair of these might go quicker than expected.
Hey, speaking of Rowan, my LYS, Untangled Purls, recently opened a sister store called Rowan at Finnegan’s Run which at the time I write this the only Rowan flagship in North America. The two stores are right next door to each other, which makes me happy to know I live in an area that can support two LYSs right next to each other, even if they are owned by the same people. Personally I’ve always considered the Rowan brand to be a bit above my price range, but I also associate the brand name with fancy yarns, tweed jackets, stiff upper-lips, wandering-the-moors-shouting-Heathcliffe-it’s-me-a-Cathy-come-home-again so that explains why I’ve never really considered that brands before, but that might change when I can get over to the new shop and take a good look at what they have to offer.