Hello and welcome to the 2022 Sock Knitter’s Almanach, February edition. This month, we shake things up a bit.
For the new kids on the block, the Sock Knitter’s Almanac is Tricot & Stitch’s informal monthly yarn club, which started in January 2021. Each month I’m offering a new colorway inspired by the month theme and a suggested sock pattern to knit, to expend your sock knitter’s experience and have fun!
This month is a first, as I couldn’t share the theme I had in mind with something so modern as camera pictures. The human mind and artistic talent being infinite, I was able to find lots of beautiful paintings and drawings to illustrate the month theme: the feminine representation of druids in the celtic cultures. This theme is loosely derived from the Imbolc celebration taking place on February 1st. Please make sure to check out the Pinterest board to get all the links to the illustrations I selected, and to see the larger selection of pins. This might be my favorite board yet. It’s so inspirational and empowering, and makes your mind wander in some beautiful fantasy landscapes.
The colorway inspired by this beautiful arrangement is “Druidesse”. Blues, greens, browns and rust hues on a beige base, with a dusting of coordinated speckles. Those are NOT my favorite colors by a long shot but there’s a je-ne-sais-quoi going on here that has me smitten with this colorway. Is it the inspiration? The connection I feel to generations of women before me? Or the way the colors play along together on the wool? I don’t know but I can’t stop knitting with it.
I can only say it feels very good to knit this colorway, shown above on the Stellina Fingering base. It’s peaceful and soothing.
I’m offering this colorway as a pre-order on the usual range of sock bases in the shop. Should you want it on other bases (DK / Mohair & Silk / Suri & Silk…), please drop me a message in my Etsy shop. NB. the preorders will start shipping end of February / beginning of March.
Another new and fun thing this month: let’s have a sock knitting challenge! The sock above is a simple twist on my cuff-down sock recipe available as a free download here (French but I’ll check if I have an English version somewhere). To knit the same sock, just follow this chart for the leg and foot, it’s the “Ostrich Plume” stitch pattern modified so there’s no openwork, just a lovely rippling effect.
The challenge is to either knit this sock or create your own with the stitch pattern of your choice. You can join in on Instagram with #tricotetstitchchallengedruidesse and/or on Ravelry here.
Please join me today on my Youtube channel for Episode 5 of Inspirations - Season 4 - I’m chatting a lot about “Druidesse”, some random family things and my latest knitting projects.
“Druidesse” is now in the shop.
Happy knitting!