Lace Socks in Novita Nalle - Downloadable PDF

Lace Socks Knitting Pattern in Novita Nalle – Free Downloadable PDF by Sari Nordlund

These elegant lace socks are a rewarding intermediate knitting project designed by Sari Nordlund and worked in Novita Nalle yarn. The pattern is available as a free downloadable PDF and guides knitters through a beautifully textured lace leg, a reinforced heel flap, a classic French heel turn, and a shaped gusset — all the hallmarks of a well-constructed hand-knitted sock. The finished socks are sized to fit EU shoe size 38 and are knitted in the round from the cuff down.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a single pair of cuff-down lace socks with a decorative lace panel running the full length of the leg. The construction follows a traditional top-down sock architecture: a ribbed cuff, a lace leg, a reinforced heel flap, a French heel turn, a gusset pick-up, and a foot worked partially in lace pattern before completing the toe. The completed leg measures approximately 15 cm before the heel begins, giving the sock a comfortable mid-calf appearance.

Yarn and Materials

• Yarn: Novita Nalle in shade 010 Off White, approximately 100 g required
• Yarn weight: DK weight
• Needles: Novita double-pointed needles, 3 mm (UK 11 / US 2½), or size needed to obtain gauge
• Gauge: 25 stitches and 35 rows in lace pattern = 10 cm / 4 inches

Novita Nalle is a yarn well suited to sock knitting, providing the stitch definition needed to show off intricate lace work while offering the durability expected from a hard-wearing sock yarn. Working at a relatively firm gauge on 3 mm double-pointed needles ensures the finished fabric is dense enough for everyday wear.

Techniques Used

• Knitting in the round on four double-pointed needles, with 14 stitches per needle and a total cast-on of 56 stitches
• Reinforced heel flap worked over 29 stitches using a slip-stitch pattern to create a double-layered, wear-resistant heel
• French heel turn using short rows with decreases (skp and p2tog) to shape the heel cup neatly
• Gusset pick-up, where 14 stitches plus 1 additional stitch are picked up from each side of the heel flap and worked through the back loop to avoid holes
• Chart reading, following a 26-row, 8-stitch repeat lace chart across the leg and part of the foot
• Short-row shaping during the heel turn, with stitches left on hold on needles II and III while the heel is worked

Stitches Used

• Twisted ribbing in the round: worked as k1 through back loop, p1 repeated, used for the cuff over approximately 2.5 cm to create a firm, elastic edge
• Lace pattern: an 8-stitch, 26-row repeat worked from a chart, repeated 7 times across the round; rows 1–26 are worked once in full, then rows 1–26 are repeated continuously up the leg
• Reinforced stitch pattern (heel flap): alternating wrong-side rows of slip 1 with yarn in back, purl to end and right-side rows of *slip 1 with yarn in back, k1* to last stitch, k1, worked for a total of 28 rows (14 repeats)
• Stockinette stitch in the round: knit all rounds, used in the foot and gusset sections