My son spent a term abroad, in Dublin, Ireland, in 2019. That made me design a sock, combining his beloved Bavarian travelling stitches, which are often used in traditional Austrian knitting patterns, and those wonderful Celtic Knot patterns. The heel I used is a Balbriggan heel, being named after the town of Balbriggan in Ireland, about 30 km north of Dublin. That alone made it a perfect heel for this sock!

This pattern comes in 2 sizes, the equivalents of a plain 60-stitch sock and a plain 72-stitch sock.

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 skein of fingering weight yarn (400-460y/100g; 320-420m/100g), unless you knit a pair for very large feet.

• Knitting needles: Samples were done using US size 0 (2mm), but use needle size that results in stitch gauge with your yarn and knitting style. The pattern is written for two circular needles, but can be knitted on magic loop or DPNs. Aim for a gauge of about 9 spi, and you will be fine. Row gauge is not that important because you will calculate when to start the toe decreases.

• 1 darning needle.

• 1 spare knitting needle (DPN, for 3-needle-BO and for picking up stitches on the heel)

• A few stitch markers

• 1 ruler, because it measures more accurately than a tape measure