These lacy socks are knit cuff-down, starting with 64 stitches of basic 1x1 twisted rib, followed by an 8-row repeat of a 16-stitch pattern (repeated 4 times per round). The heel is a basic heel flap/short row heel construction, with the pattern continuing along the top of the foot and a stocking stitch sole. Finally, the sock is completed after a number of toe decreases with a grafted toe.

The main body of the sock is built using an 8-row pattern, but only the odd rows have any pattern stitches – the even rows are entirely knit stitches. The centre stitches on every repeat of the pattern row are purl stitches – either 2 or 4, depending on whether you are at the beginning of the diamond or the middle of it. The purl diamond is bordered by a sequence of “yarn-over, 2 x decrease, yarn-over” – the decreases are left or right leaning to make the diamond open and close up appropriately. The first and last stitch of every row is a knit stitch, followed by either k1, p1 or just p1, depending on the size of the diamond.

There are regular occurrences of “purl, YO, decrease” or “decrease, YO, purl” in the pattern. To ensure I didn’t need to knit through the back loop on the following row, I only wrapped the stitch when moving from a decrease to a purl (not the other way around).

The lace pattern is very stretchy, bear that in mind when considering the fit.