I recently finished my Magnolia socks, which is surprising to me. I really claim to not have much sock mojo, yet I keep finishing socks…
The usual details first:
Pattern: Magnolia Socks / Helen Stewart
Yarn: agirlandherwool / BFL Sock / Golden Hour
Needles: Size 0 dpns
Cast on: 5/26/2020
Cast off: 8/10/2020
The pattern page on Ravelry can be found here.
Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A pair of finished socks. A pair of patterned finished socks, that is. My feet certainly seem ready for fall, don’t they?
This pattern is from the original Handmade Sock Society, a collection by Helen Stewart. I purchased the ebook prior to any of the patterns being released and I guess it took me years to get through them. There are 6 total patterns and I’ve now knit 5. I really don’t have any intention of knitting the last pair, but I certainly think I got my money’s worth for the ebook.
Helen’s pattern really are great to knit up as she is very clear, lays everything out and has a percentage system so you know how far you are. This seems less important in socks than in shawls, but I can appreciate it. For me, the only thing I actually use in the pattern is the stitch design, otherwise I just do my normal sock pattern.
The pattern is a top down sock pattern, meaning you start with the cuff. I also knit my socks toe up (I prefer NOT to do a kitchener stitch, thank you very much). This means that the pattern is actually upside down from how it was intended. It doesn’t bother me though!
I really don’t have too much to say about these socks, honestly. If you like patterned socks, give it a go. There are cables, but I definitely recommend learning to cable without a cable needle. With only a couple of stitches to cross over, it’s really not that bad and will certainly save you a lot of time in the end. While it’s not the most intuitive pattern to memorize, I did not find that I needed to keep a copy of it next to me.
The yarn itself is some of my favorite to knit with. Yes, I’m biased, but I do love BFL sock yarn. I actually am knitting another pair of socks with BFL yarn that is not yarn from my own shop. It’s soft to work with but you can just tell how well it will wear. I loved using a mostly tonal color, but with bits of brown and gold to keep it fun and not solid. The pattern shows off well, but then again, so does the yarn.
The most exciting part about these socks is how well it reinforced to me that my cast on party was a success. A few months back, I had a cast on party, where I cast on quite a few projects. I didn’t necessarily view them all as current projects, but they were a safety net to know that I had something I could grab if I wanted to. The Magnolia sock came in so handy when I finished a project during a movie (at home) and didn’t want to be a big hold up. I just was able to grab this project, with the toe already cast on and just start knitting the pattern. Yes, I had to look at the pattern, but I didn’t need to find needles, wind yarn, download the pattern or count stitches. It was much easier to just go.
Since I had no rush to finish the pair, I ended up not casting on the second sock until recently. Actually, I did it during my second cast on party. I think I ended up focusing on just getting that sock done and now I have a finished pair. Something about having the project ready to go just makes it more likely to be worked on. It really has been working for me during this slight time of a rut.
This isn’t the most interesting post, but again, I haven’t been too thrilled with sock knitting in general and maybe that’s showing. I’m definitely looking for good inspiration for upcoming projects, so let me know what you’re excited about!
Check out more and see it in person here: