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My friend Fay recently started dyeing yarn under the name Bea and Rose, and her colourways are beautiful. I was delighted when she suggested we work on a collaboration together, and this is what we came up with. The colours in the yarn echo the yellows of wheat fields, a theme that is reflected in the lacy wheat stitch pattern the makes up the central panel of the socks. I came across the slipped-stitch textured stitch pattern in a stitch dictionary under the name grass stitch, which tied in so beautifully with the theme I couldn’t not include it!

The Wheat socks are knitted from the toe up and use a gusset and heel flap construction, shaped with short rows. The socks have a pattern on the instep and around the leg, while the sole is knitted in stocking stitch. The gusset length is affected by your row/round gauge, so a table of gauge-dependent lengths is included to help you achieve the perfect fit.

The socks come in three sizes (finished sock circumferences, 16 (20, 23.5) cm 6.5 (8, 9.25) in). The patterns is written to be needle-neutral and can be knitted on any of DPNs, short circulars or long circulars using the magic loop technique.

The sample socks shown are the medium size for a UK size 6 foot (foot length 24 cm/9.5 in). The sample is knitted in Bea and Rose 4 ply (4 ply; 425 m 463 yds per 100g skein; 75% merino wool, 25% nylon) and used 330 m 357 yds.

Gauge
32 sts x 46 rnds = 10 cm 4 in in stocking stitch worked in the round on 2.5 mm DPNs, or size needed to obtain correct gauge.
21 sts = 4.75 cm 1.88 in in wheat stitch worked in the round on 2.5 mm DPNs, or size needed to obtain correct gauge.
35.5 sts = 10 cm 4 in in grass stitch worked in the round on 2.5 mm DPNs, or size needed to obtain correct gauge.
Notes are included to adapt the instructions to your row/rnd gauge.

Tools
2.5 mm DPNs or a 2.5 mm circular needle at least 80 cm (32 in) in length
6 stitch markers, one of which should be distinct to indicate the start of the round
Tapestry needle

Materials
Up to 425 m 436 yds of 4 ply sock yarn. I would recommend using a dedicated sock yarn for these socks, either a wool/nylon blend or a high-twist wool yarn. It is possible that if you are knitting for very large feet you may require more than 400 m 436 yds of yarn for a pair of socks.

Difficulty:
Intermediate (knitting, purling, simple increases and decreases, simple intarsia)

Pattern Style: Sock pattern is written using abbreviations (all abbreviations are given). The wheat stitch is given as both a chart and written instructions.