One of the most eagerly anticipated festivals of the year, Beltane lies at the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It marks the beginning of summer and was celebrated by the lighting of bonfires and also by decorating houses and other objects with flowers.

These spring-like socks feature a sinuous, winding cable which looks impressive with it’s unusual double twist, but which is surprisingly simple to work. Unusually for me however I do recommend the use of a cable needle for the larger cable to avoid stress. As cables have a tendency to ‘draw’ fabric in, the side panels of ribbing create a little more elasticity and ensure a good fit over the heel.
The sample as shown in the picture uses the Fish Lips Kiss Heel – a wonderful heel technique which I highly commend to you. To respect the designers copyright I have not included the directions here but have given my usual heel flap construction. For the princely sum of $1 (approx 60p) however the FLK heel pattern offers a wealth of information and instruction and I do recommend that you take a look.

As with many of my designs, this pattern is offered in both toe-up and cuff down versions. Please ensure you download the version you require after checkout.

Materials and Pattern specifics

2.5mm 100cm circular needle for magic loop (the instructions are written for magic loop but are easily adaptable to other methods of small-circumference knitting)
1 x 100g sock yarn (MC) sample knit as shown used approx. 55g MC (for a UK size 6)
Approx 20g sock yarn scraps (CC). Each colour band uses less than 2g yarn.
GAUGE: 32 stitches x 44 rows = 10cm/4” in stocking stitch, blocked
SIZE: M (L): 20 (22.5)cm/8 (8.75”) circumference, designed to fit with approx 2cm/0.75” negative ease