“Latvia is a small country located in Northern Europe, by the Baltic Sea, smaller than Scotland and with less than half as many inhabitants. The damp and windy coastal climate has always created a need for warm clothing, which is why Latvia is steeped in a rich heritage of knitting traditions.” –Knit Like a Latvian Socks by Ieva Ozolina
Ieva Ozolina’s delightful book, which has a companion book called simply Knit Like a Latvian (first link in the first paragraph goes to Amazon, the second link goes to Ozolina’s online shop Hobbywool. I would have preferred to link both books to her shop but at the time of this writing the shop doesn’t have Knit Like a Latvian Socks listed for sale). Knit Like a Latvian is a collection of mitten patterns, and I’m not much of a mitten girl, but clearly our focus today is on Latvian socks, and you know how much I love knitting socks! If ever I become a mitten girl I’ll be sure to pick up her mitten book.
The patterns are divided into sections based on sock length, starting with ankle socks, which at first I was confused by because my interpretation of ankle socks are…well….socks that end at your ankle. Once I read the opening section, it became clear that the author and designer calls them ‘ankle socks’ because the patterning ends at the ankle, keeping the foot portion simple so it can be easily re-knitted. The patterns in this book call for an all-wool yarn, as is traditional, so if you had to darn (or entirely re-knit) the sock, the most likely places that would wear through soonest would be in the toes and heels, and it would be far less heartache to fix. Nothing wrong with using a sock yarn with a nylon content to help with that issue, and that’s exactly what I would do. Yes, I did google Latvian sock history, hoping to find some delightful yarn-y rabbit hole going into exhaustive detail on the height of traditional Latvian socks, but for once it was not to be found. Yet.
The patterns are set up in such a way so that each pattern is a two-page spread, with one page for the chart and details, and the facing page is a photograph of the finished product. Many of the patterns, especially those in the ankle sock section are focused on the colorwork portion above the ankle. In fact, the majority of the written pattern is focused on the colorwork, with the foot section all being pulled from her Basic Sock Recipe located in the back of the book. There is a section at the beginning of the book about Latvian traditional symbols, such as the Sign of Auseklis, otherwise known as the Morning Star which is a traditional eight-pointed star motif.
The rest of the patterns in the book (50! in total) are centered on longer socks (knee length and so on) and are more varied in construction. There are full-on lace patterned knee socks, colorwork knee socks in the same vein as the ankle socks but patterned all the way down, and a section on foot-less leg warmers. If I had a criticism, and I do, it would be that some of the chart patterns in this book are very compressed in order to fit more patterns into the book. If you are someone with vision problems or even if you’re knitting after a long day at work staring at a computer screen, you might have trouble reading the symbols. That can be managed, of course. I’m thinking of those portable magnification screens or even scanning a chart and making it larger. Don’t let that put you off, though. It’s certainly possible to knit straight from the book without having to adjust anything, but I know at least for myself I would have to pay close attention.