Pattern Release: Diamond Divide Socks

If you are an enthusiastic sock knitter like me, then you know that a big trend in sock yarns right now is self-striping yarn. These yarns are fun and addictive (you keep wanting to knit just one more stripe!), but unfortunately they don't always play so nicely with patterning. Anything too elaborate can get lost very easily in the stripes. So for this sock pattern, I set myself a challenging: Come up with a pattern that's engaging enough to keep a knitter interested but not so busy that the pattern is obscured by the stripes. I think I've succeeded with these socks.

These socks are knit from the cuff down. The leg is fairly traditional, but once you hit the point where you're ready to start the heel, things start to get interesting. While still working in the round, you simultaneously work a slipped-stitch heel flap and gusset increases in the form of the top of the diamond on the instep. After the heel is turned, a flap is worked along the bottom of the foot to decrease the extra stitches, and then the diamond is completed on the instep before working the toe. The ribbing in the diamond on the instep keeps the fabric snug against the foot.

May I gush about this yarn for a moment? This is Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce, an 80% superwash merino/20% nylon blend. The colorway is Good and Plenty, but I'd encourage you to check out Lisa's shop because she had a ton of gorgeous self-striping colorways. This yarn has a bouncy twist, as you'd expect from the name, and it gets so nice and soft when you wash it.

The socks are written for three sizes: adult small, medium, and large, to fit a foot circumference of 8 (9, 10) in./20.5 (23, 25.5) cm. The pattern is fully charted and has full written equivalents for those charts.

I hope you have as much fun knitting these as I did! In fact, I'm getting ready to cast on another pair for myself (in another of Lisa's colorways) during lunch today.