Brighouse Socks in Rowan Sock - ZB324-00001-DEP - Downloadable PDF

Brighouse Socks in Rowan Sock – Pattern Summary (ZB324-00001-DEP)

The Brighouse Socks is a knitted sock pattern by ROWAN, available as a downloadable PDF. Designed for knitters with an intermediate level of experience, this pattern produces a pair of beautifully textured socks featuring an elegant lace-inspired stitch pattern across the foot upper, combined with smooth stockinette stitch throughout the rest of the construction. The pattern is written in German.

What Is Being Made

The pattern creates a pair of knitted socks sized to fit a foot circumference of 20 cm, 23 cm, or 26 cm, making it suitable for a range of adult foot sizes. The foot length is worked to the wearer's desired measurement, offering a fully customisable fit. The socks are photographed in Stone 004, showcasing the subtle textural detail of the stitch pattern against a neutral yarn tone.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Rowan Sock (100 g), a 3-ply weight yarn — 1 ball is required across all three sizes. The sample shown uses Stone 004.
• Needles: A set of 5 double-pointed needles (DPNs) in size 2½ mm, or alternatively a 2½ mm circular needle, 80 cm long, used with the Magic Loop technique.

Tension / Gauge

The recommended tension is 32 stitches and 43 rows to 10 x 10 cm, measured over stocking stitch (stockinette) using 2½ mm needles. Achieving the correct tension is especially important in sock knitting, as even small variations can significantly affect the fit around the foot circumference.

Techniques Used

• Magic Loop technique — an alternative to double-pointed needles, allowing small circumferences to be knitted in the round on a long circular needle.
• Knitting in the round — the socks are constructed seamlessly using either DPNs or the Magic Loop method.
• Toe shaping with increases — the toe is shaped using a series of increases worked every other round, building stitch count up to 62 (70: 78) stitches depending on size.
• Gusset / gusset increases — left-leaning increases (LiZun) and right-leaning increases (ReZun) are used to shape the gusset area, each picked up from the horizontal strand between stitches and worked to lean in the appropriate direction for a neat, invisible result.
• Repeating stitch pattern over 16 rounds — the foot upper is worked in a 16-round repeat that forms the decorative pattern, while all remaining stitches are worked in plain knit.

Stitches Used

• Stocking stitch (glatt rechts / stockinette) — the main fabric of the sock, worked in the round as all knit stitches.
• Yarn over (Umschlag / U) — used within the stitch pattern to create decorative eyelet holes that form the lace-like texture.
• Central double decrease (überzogene Abnahme / übzAbn) — a slip-stitch decrease paired with yarn overs to create the characteristic lace motif on the foot upper.
• Schl1 (special elongated stitch) — a distinctive technique where the right needle is inserted into a hole 5 rounds below the current position, the yarn is drawn to the front, placed onto the left needle, and then knitted together with the next stitch. This creates a gathered, textured effect unique to the Brighouse pattern.
• Left-leaning increase (LiZun) — the horizontal strand between stitches is picked up from front to back with the left needle and knitted through the back loop.
• Right-leaning increase (ReZun) — the horizontal strand between stitches is picked up from back to front with the left needle and knitted through the front loop.

Stitch Pattern