Carol's Garden Socks

Carol's Garden Socks by Terry Morris

Project Overview

Carol's Garden Socks is an intermediate-level knitted sock pattern designed by Terry Morris (SailingKnitter). This downloadable PDF pattern captures the vibrant essence of a summer garden, featuring colorful stranded colorwork inspired by flowers, fruits, and pastoral charm. The design translates garden aesthetics into a cozy winter accessory available in two women's sizes: Medium and Large.

What Is Being Made

These are full-length knit socks designed for women, featuring a decorative cuff with scalloped edging that transitions into a fitted leg and foot. The socks showcase stranded colorwork throughout, allowing crafters to incorporate multiple yarn colors to create an organic, garden-inspired visual pattern reminiscent of blooming flowers and natural elements.

Techniques Used

• Stranded colorwork knitting: The primary technique, where two colors are carried across rows to create intricate patterned designs
• Scalloped cuff construction: A decorative edge created by casting on a large stitch count that decreases on the first round to form the scallop detail
• Variable stitch count shaping: Strategic decreases worked down the leg and into the foot for proper sock fit and structure
• Double point needle knitting: Worked in the round using DPN sets to create seamless, tubular sock construction

Stitches and Stitch Details

The pattern employs fundamental knitting stitches within a stranded colorwork framework. The cuff begins with a high stitch count (147 for Medium, 165 for Large) to accommodate the scalloped edge design. Stitch counts decrease strategically on the first round after casting on, then continue to vary down the leg and into the foot sections to achieve proper shaping and fit. The stranded colorwork maintains a consistent gauge of 8 stitches over 1 inch when worked in the round.

Materials Required

• Yarn: 375 yards (Medium size) or 425 yards (Large size) of fingering or sock weight yarn in multiple colors of the crafter's choice
• Needles: One set of US Size 1 (2.25mm) double point needles for ribbing; one set of US Size 2 (2.75mm) double point needles (or size needed to obtain gauge) for the main pattern
• Yarn Selection Notes: Solid, semi-solid, and heathered yarns are recommended as ideal choices. Hand-dyed or patterned yarns may work if the multi-colors do not overlap with the colors being used in adjacent stranded sections, ensuring clear color definition in the colorwork design

Gauge

The pattern is worked to a gauge of 8 stitches equals 1 inch over stranded colorwork knitting. Achieving proper gauge is essential for sock fit and is obtained using the US Size 2 (2.75mm) needles or the size necessary to match this specification.