Letterpress Socks by Helen Stewart

Letterpress Socks

Knitting
May 2025
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
32 stitches and 46 rows = 4 inches
in Stockinette
US 1 - 2.25 mm
437 yards (400 m)
Small, Medium, Large
English

Letterpress printing is such a physical thing. The satisfying click of metal type locking into place. The weighty turn of a press wheel, turned with effort by inky hands. Softly raised words you can feel as much as read. These days, letterpress (like knitting) is something that we do for love, rather than necessity. It’s reserved for our most meaningful messages—wedding invitations, birth announcements, and cherished keepsakes. Both of these crafts are enjoying a passionate revival. They have nothing to do with efficiency and everything to do with enjoyment. It’s a conscious return to slower, more deliberate making, where the tools and materials require a human touch and our concentrated attention.

The Letterpress Socks celebrate this shared heritage of meaningful making. Knit from the top down, they begin with a classic ribbed cuff before transitioning into a simple but effective stitch pattern that plays with raised purl bumps and defined ridges. These textured rows circle the leg like lines of text impressed into paper. The stitches are easy, but varied enough to keep your interest. A traditional heel flap and gusset construction and a wedge toe finish off the sock, though if you’d like to substitute your preferred techniques for a more personalised fit, it’s easily done.

Finished Measurements:
To fit approx. foot circumference of 7 (8, 9)” /17.5 (20, 22.5) cm

Yarn:
Eden Cottage Yarn Tempo 4-ply 75% merino wool, 25% nylon; 400m/436yds per 100g skein, 1 x skein,
Colour: Dark Oak actual yarn used 85g(340m/371yds) of fingering weight yarn

Needles:
2.25mm (US 1), 100cm (40”) long circular needles (or size to obtain gauge) for magic loop method or DPNs if preferred

Notions:
Tapestry needle
3 stitch markers gauge

Gauge
32 sts/46 rounds = 10cm (4”) in stockinette stitch