In my stash I had one skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot, a fingering weight yarn 60% wool, 25% mohair and 15% nylon that I was itching to get on the needles. I figured with the little bit of nylon, the yarn would be perfect for socks. I wanted to make a pair of Birkinstock socks for my Meggie-girl, so I started looking for a lacy pattern that would get her through the autumn weather. When I found the pattern for traveling fern lace, I knew I had to make it work. The beautiful colorway, Apple Green of the Bearfoot reminded me of the pictures of the sun-dappled ferns I took in the alpine forests above Grenoble, France when I traveled there last autumn. These top down socks feature a picot edging, perfect for rolled up pants and a cute pair of Birks!
YARN
Mountain Colors – 1 skein of Bearfoot – Apple Green
NEEDLES AND NOTIONS
US 2 dpn’s
Tapestry needle for kitchener stitch and weaving in ends
SIZES
Flexible sizing
ABBREVIATIONS
K – knit
P – purl
k3tog – knit 3 together
sl – slip
st – stitch
yo – yarn over
sk2p – slip stitch, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch
sk3p – slip stitch, knit 3 together, pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch
ssk – slip, slip, knit
INSTRUCTIONS
Picot long-tail cast on method:
Make sure your tail is long enough to cast on about 130 stitches
Using a U.S. 2 circular needle, Cast on 5 stitches
**K2, Slip 1st knitted stitch over 2nd knitted stitch, K1, Slip 1st knitted stitch over 2nd knitted stitch, Slip right hand needle stitch onto left hand needle, Cast on 4 more stitches**
Repeat from ** until you have 64 stitches on your needle
Divide evenly over 4 us 2 DPN’s (16 stitches on needles 1, 2, 3 and 17 on needle 4)
Join for working in the round
Knit one round
Transfer last knitted stitch on needle 4 to needle 1 and P2tog. Purl remaining stitches in round (16 stitches on each needle)
Knit next round
Purl next round
Increase Round – (k1, increase one stitch, k15) four times (68 stitches total)
Set up round – (K16, P1) four times
BEGIN TRAVELING FERN LACE PATTERN
Rnd 1 – (K9, yo, k1, yo, k3, sk2p, p1) four times
Rnd 2 – AND ALL EVEN NUMBERED ROUNDS – (K16, P1) four times
Rnd 3 – (k10, yo, k1, yo, k2, sk2p, p1) four times
Rnd 5 – (k3tog, k4, yo, k1, yo, k3, yo, k1, yo, k1, sk2p, p1) four times
Rnd 7 – (k3tog, k3, yo, k1, yo, k9, p1) four times
Rnd 9 – (k3tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, k10, p1) four times
Rnd 11 – (k3tog, k1, yo, k1, yo, k3, yo, k1, yo, k4, sk2p, p1) four times
Rnd 12 – (K16, P1) four times
Repeat 12 rounds of lace pattern 3 times
DIVIDE FOR HEEL
K17, turn work
Next row – (WS) s1, p33 heel stitches on one needle.
Work back and forth as follows:
Row 1 – (slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in back (wyib), k1) repeat to end of row
Row 2 – (slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in front, purl to end
Work rows 1 and 2 a total of 15 times
TURN HEEL
row 1 – sl 1 purlwise wyib, k18, ssk, k1, turn
Row 2 – SL 1 purlwise, wyif, p5, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 3 – sl 1, Knit to 1st stitch before gap, ssk, k1, turn
Row 4 – sl 1, Purl to 1st stitch before gap, p2tog, p1, turn
Repeat rows 3 & 4 until all heel stitches have been worked, ending with a WS row (20) stitches remaining
GUSSETT
Rnd 1 – sl 1 and knit 19 across heel. Pick up and knit 15 selvedge stitches along edge of heel flap. Pick up one stitch between needle 1 and needle 2, slip it onto needle 2, Pearl this stitch then continue with lace pattern on needle 2 as follows :
K9, yo, k1, yo, k3, sk3p (slip stitch, knit 3 together, pass slipped stitch over. This will eliminate the Purl stitch between the front two lace panels. Your Purl stitches will now be the 1st stitch on needle 2 and the last stitch on needle 3!)
Continue with lace pattern on needle 3 (K9, yo, k1, yo, k3, sk2p, p1)
Pick up a stitch between needles 3 and 4, place on needle 4. Knit this together with 1st picked up selvedge stitch. Pick up and knit 14 more selvedge stitches.
Knit 10 heel stitches onto needle 4
4 needles – needles 4 and 1 should have 25 stitches each. Needles 2 and 3 should have 17 stitches
Rnd 2 – on needle 1, knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1, on needles 2 and 3, continue on round 2 of newly established lace pattern, on needle 4 k1, ssk, knit to end of round.
Rnd 3 – knit all stitches on needle 1, continue in established pattern on needles 2 and 3, knit all stitches on needle 4. DONT FORGET ABOUT NEW PURL STITCH ON THE BEGINNING OF NEEDLE 2!
Repeat rounds 2 and 3 until needles 1 and 4 each have 15 stitches (64 total stitches)
FOOT
MODIFIED LACE PATTERN FOR TOP OF FOOT
Rnd 1 – p1, (K9, yo, k1, yo, k3, sk2p) two times, p1
Rnd 2 AND ALL EVEN NUMBERED ROUNDS – p1, (K16) two times, p1
Rnd 3 – p1, (k10, yo, k1, yo, k2, sk2p) two times, p1
Rnd 5 – p1, (k3tog, k4, yo, k1, yo, k3, yo, k1, yo, k1, sk2p) two times, p1
Rnd 7 – p1 (k3tog, k3, yo, k1, yo, k9) two times, p1
Rnd 9 – p1 (k3tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, k10) two times, p1
Rnd 11 – p1, (k3tog, k1, yo, k1, yo, k3, yo, k1, yo, k4, sk2p) two times, p1
Rnd 12 – p1, (K16) two times, p1
Continue in established pattern until measurement from back of heel is about 1 3/4″ less than desired length ending on round 5 or round 11 of lace chart
TOE
Round one
Needle 1 – knit
Needle 2 – ssk, knit to end of needle
Needle 3 – knit to last 2 stitches on end of needle, k2tog
Needle 4 – knit
Round two
Repeat round one (you will now have 15 stitches on each needle, 60 total stitches)
Round three – knit
Round four
Needle 1 – knit to last 2 stitches on end of needle, k2tog
Needle 2 – ssk, knit to end of needle
Needle 3 – knit to last 2 stitches on end of needle, k2tog
Needle 4 – ssk, knit to end of needle
Repeat rounds three and four until there are 16 stitches total (4 on each needle). Knit to end of needle one. Slip stitches from needle 1 onto needle 4. Do the same with needles 2 and 3. You will now have 8 stitches on each of the 2 parallel needles. Use the kitchener stitch to graft stitches together. Weave in ends. Make one more!
WayfaringYarns 