Dot Socks are my second sock pattern release of 2024 and are one I am really proud of and excited about. The visual of the socks are quite simple, just a circle floating an inch above your heel with some playful striping. I designed these socks about a year ago thinking they would only be well suited for ready to wear and fine gauge knitting but then I got the itch to try it for hand knitting.
The technique used to get that perfect dot is Ladder Back Jacquard which I mostly know about from machine knitting but is actually not that hard in hand knitting. I watched one tutorial and was hooked- it opens up the possibilities of colorwork! You can do what looks like intarsia easily in the round, without intarsia. The idea of the technique is that you are creating a second fabric that sort of acts like scaffolding at the interior of the sock using the yarn that is not being used on the exterior. This makes an extra warm sock because it is double layer. It is not double knitting but the effect is somewhat similar. The pattern comes with a full Ladder Back Jacquard tutorial video.
This sock is knit from the top // cuff down. The Ladder Back Jacquard begins right after the cuff and ends right above the heel. The toes are knit with typical decreases and the heel construction is an afterthought heel, knit in stripes.
I knit the sample, above, using beautiful Loop Fiber Studio Yin Yang yarn in color Bears Oh My. This is the perfect yarn for this pattern because its wooly, a little grabby, but not over twisted. In the test we found out that if the yarn selected is a bit springy, it doesnt sit as nicely on the inside in the Ladder Back Jacquard section (LBJ). I recommend using 2 similar yarns or even the same base- yarns good for fairisle will do well with LBJ.
The results from the test were so lovely so I want to make sure to showcase some below.
Thank you to Christianna, Amelia, Keriann, Bettina, Amanda, Marta, Julia, Emma, Candice, Suzann, Rhiannon, Lorna, Laura, Katie, and Mariko for helping me with advanced knitting and trouble shooting.
