Welcome to May’s Full Moon Socks--Grass Moon

Full moon folklore is a legacy of many cultures and persists today. These sock of the month patterns celebrate the Celtic themes surrounding the full moon. Many of the Celtic full moon names are shared by the Anglo Saxons and Native Americans. As the monthly patterns unfold, you will see how I was inspired by each moon’s theme and was also inspired by the incredible color range of Exmoor Sock yarn which I used exclusively for each month’s sample pair of socks. So inspired, in fact, that there are three bonus patterns to be released later in the year so I could continue to play with Exmoor’s luminous and nature-inspired palette, and you get more sock patterns!

As a designer who specializes in cabled knitting designs, most of these socks feature cables in some form. Designing an Aran at the miniature scale of socks is no easy task and I found that simpler is better to save myself from frustration and allowing me to offer more than one size of sock each month. Each month’s theme allowed me to really distill my ideas to a spare but emotive design. To offer a bit of respite, there are gansey inspired socks as well that are only knit and purl patterns to offer us a bit of a break throughout the year. I hope you enjoy knitting these socks as much as I have enjoyed designing them.

GRASS MOON

It’s May. Spring is springing and grass is growing. Woodland ephemerals have been blooming for a few weeks and the woods where I live are alive with Trillium. In Celtic mythology, May’s moon is sometimes called the Flower Moon, but here in New England, the first shoots of grass after a long winter are cause for celebration. So here are the Grass Moon socks which I actually designed several years ago and published in a little booklet called Thistle and Fox Socks (print only). This particular sock was called Bluegrass Socks back then and I like it so much that I wanted to include it in the Full Moon Socks collection too.

These socks feature a cabled heel flap but the pattern includes instructions for a slip stitch heel as well.

Yarn
John Arbon Textiles Exmoor Sock 4 ply
60% Exmoor Blueface Superwash 20% Corriedale Superwash 10% Zwartbles 10% Nylon
50 grams 200 meters per skein (218 yards)
3 (3) skeins or 400 (450) yards or 366 (415) meters of fingering weight
Note: Sample socks (green) have a 7” (17.5 cm) long leg and 10” (25 cm) long foot and used 92 grams of yarn. If using Exmoor, two skeins may be enough, but I recommend a third skein to be on the safe side.
Yarn usage will vary depending on length of leg and foot.
Shown in Oddmedod (Green) and Drizzle (Grey) in size Medium

Needles
US 1 (2.25 mm) or size to obtain gauge, double pointed, set of 5

Notions
Two unique stitch markers
Cable needle (5” DP US 1/2.25 mm sock needles work great)
Tapestry needle

Gauge
36 stitches over 4” (10 cm) in Stockinette
28 stitches over 4” (10cm) in Seed Stitch
Average gauge over chart is 11 stitches per inch

Finished Size
Medium (Large) 8”/20 cm (8 ½”/22 cm) circumference after blocking