Something Nouveau

Have you seen The Sanguine Gryphon's Spring 2011 Art Nouveau pattern collection yet? I have a new sock design in it. Willow Tea Room is a toe-up lace anklet named for a Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed building in Glasgow, Scotland. The rosebud motifs appear on the leaded glass windows and doors, and the lace grid is reminiscent of the chair backs.

The pattern model features TSG's Skinny Bugga! in spring/summer 2011 colorway Golden Orb Weaver.

After I sent off the sample pair, though, I made a second pair to keep for myself. This time I used a winter 2010 colorway, Miss Spider, because the inspiration building is decorated in similar shades. Here's a quick snapshot of my pair. (The camera angle was a little awkward; my feet aren't really that short.)

Like Betony, WTR has asymmetric toes and arch shaping. And both Betony and WTR have a heel that is identical in appearance and proportions to a top-down flap-and-gusset round heel. However, Betony shapes the sole flap with short rows; WTR shapes the sole flap with decreases and then stitches are picked up along the sides. A bit of garter stitch at the sides of the heel back adds interest and coordinates with the garter-and-twisted-stitch lace background on the instep.

The sizing for this sock is a little unusual. There are two foot circumferences given, but three foot lengths, as well as directions for adding more foot length. If you have any trouble following the pattern (for this or any other reason!), please do email me at the address on the pattern.

If you have really small feet and like a snug fit, you can still knit WTR. Now, I think it's a terrible idea for a pattern to direct changing the finished size of a sock by changing gauge with the same yarn (that's a whole other post). But it's perfectly fine to change size by changing gauge if you also change yarn weight. If you use TSG's Little Traveler instead of Skinny Bugga!, you can get a very nice sock fabric at around 9 st/in and follow the instructions for the size M circumference. The Little Traveler version of the Golden Orb Weaver colorway is called The Five Continents.