September 9, 2008
Reverse Fern Stitch Socks
Hooray for long weekends. We snuck in one more trip to enjoy a late summer Michigan weekend and I poured all my free time into finishing the second of my Reverse Fern Stitch socks. A few commenters asked after the name of this stitch pattern in my last post about these socks. You can find it in Barbara Walker's Third Treasury of Charted Knitting Designs
(truly, if there is one set of essential books in my knitting library it is Barbara Walker's stitch dictionaries) -- the Reverse Fern Stitch. 
This stitch has a very different look before blocking. The texture has much more depth if you don't block it out. I didn't do any blocking because I like to preserve any natural stretchiness I can get in sock fabric, but I thought the difference was interesting and might be food for thought if you were interested in using it in a non-sock garment.
This pattern is also quite serviceable and interesting when you reverse it.
If you want to make socks using this pattern, it's not hard to do. The pattern is 12 x 20 stitch repeat, and I have 6 repeats around (a total of 72 stitches) and 7 repeats in length with a 1.5" 3 x 3 ribbed cuff. I worked the project on 2.25 mm DP needles (Knit Picks Harmony DPs, which I love!) and created a fabric that is perfect for my foot and leg. Once you get to where you are knitting the full 6 pattern repeats in the round, you do have to do a few little fiddly things to make the pattern work out, but it's pretty easy (and can be achieved by simply shifting stitches around on your needles) as long as you remember to do it.
As I mentioned in my previous post about the socks, the yarn is Oxford Kitchen Yarns sock yarn in the Marmalade colorway, which makes for a very lovely "Welcome Autumn" socks. And after completing my socks, (I have a woman's US Size 8 or so foot) I appear to have plenty of yarn left over -- enough, I think for maybe a pair for Ms. Baby, so I think the skein is quite generous even for man feet or larger women's feet. One comment I will make about the yarn is that it is quite twisty and I found some parts to have a higher level of twist than others. In no case did it make for any real problems when kniting, but occasionally it got in the way. Also, this yarn has a lot of lovely natural imperfections in it. None of them are dramatic, but they all give the yarn a bit more texture and depth. Again, not a show stopper in the least, but something to keep in mind if you must have a sock yarn that is completely smooth. Over all I quite like the yarn and thought it was perfect for these socks. I do believe the label says it prefers hand washing. I may have to knit a tiny swatch to see if that is really the case. Realistically, if a sock yarn is hand wash only, the socks in question will get unfortunately little wear in my house.
As luck would have it, the weather in Chicago got quite fall-like on Monday and these socks got their very first outing rather quickly. In spite of the lacy little holes, they did quite well keeping my feet happy today. Neither too warm nor too cold. So they turned out perfect for their intended use.
If you want to make socks using this pattern, it's not hard to do. The pattern is 12 x 20 stitch repeat, and I have 6 repeats around (a total of 72 stitches) and 7 repeats in length with a 1.5" 3 x 3 ribbed cuff. I worked the project on 2.25 mm DP needles (Knit Picks Harmony DPs, which I love!) and created a fabric that is perfect for my foot and leg. Once you get to where you are knitting the full 6 pattern repeats in the round, you do have to do a few little fiddly things to make the pattern work out, but it's pretty easy (and can be achieved by simply shifting stitches around on your needles) as long as you remember to do it.
As I mentioned in my previous post about the socks, the yarn is Oxford Kitchen Yarns sock yarn in the Marmalade colorway, which makes for a very lovely "Welcome Autumn" socks. And after completing my socks, (I have a woman's US Size 8 or so foot) I appear to have plenty of yarn left over -- enough, I think for maybe a pair for Ms. Baby, so I think the skein is quite generous even for man feet or larger women's feet. One comment I will make about the yarn is that it is quite twisty and I found some parts to have a higher level of twist than others. In no case did it make for any real problems when kniting, but occasionally it got in the way. Also, this yarn has a lot of lovely natural imperfections in it. None of them are dramatic, but they all give the yarn a bit more texture and depth. Again, not a show stopper in the least, but something to keep in mind if you must have a sock yarn that is completely smooth. Over all I quite like the yarn and thought it was perfect for these socks. I do believe the label says it prefers hand washing. I may have to knit a tiny swatch to see if that is really the case. Realistically, if a sock yarn is hand wash only, the socks in question will get unfortunately little wear in my house.
As luck would have it, the weather in Chicago got quite fall-like on Monday and these socks got their very first outing rather quickly. In spite of the lacy little holes, they did quite well keeping my feet happy today. Neither too warm nor too cold. So they turned out perfect for their intended use.
claudia said:
Very pretty, and lovely color!
Jennifer said:
very nice, and I bet they'd be cute on Miss Z too!
Emma said:
They are beautiful socks. I'm so glad you like the yarn, and thrilled to see something knitted with it.
The colour fastness, being madder dyed, would be an issue if machine washed. You could just take them into the shower with you for a quick wash and rinse. Saves time !
I'm so sorry to have owed you e-mails for so long. Please forgive me.
xxx
Rippedoffknitter said:
Pretty pretty socks!
Ronni said:
Lovely socks! And thanks for the identity of the stitch pattern I will have to flag that one.
Those are gorgeous!