It’s a warm Fall evening. The sun has just set and the crisp rattle of leaves chases you down the lane on the way to your Nettle and Bone book club. A chill races up your spine as ghostly images long honed through the ages spring to mind, and a tickle at your ankle makes you jump! But it’s just your neighborhood , rubbing against your woolly Nettle and Bone socks. You smile and reach down to give her a pet, and tug up your socks.

Spider web lacework, delicate ribbing reminiscent of bones, a purl ridge at the toes that, like a dash of cinnamon on cider, is the perfect touch of elegant simplicity. All worked from the toe up with a Fox Heel to get that oh-so-cozy perfect fit.

It’s going to be the perfect coffee-drinking, modern fairytale-reading, chattering inside with close friends, sock-cuddled toes propped up against the backdrop of candles kind of Fall evening.

Come join me for some spooky fun.

Materials

Yarn
100 grams (approximately 400 yds) of fingering weight yarn, recommended with a nylon component

Yarn used in photos:
Craft Me Knot Yarn Co - Sock (80/20 2-ply fingering weight) - in the Bergamot colorway (MC) - 100 grams
Bare mini skein (75/25 4-ply fingering weight) - 20 grams

Needles
US 1 (2.25 mm) 40” circular needles (Magic Loop), or size needed to obtain gauge

Other options: DPNs or 9” circulars; pattern is written for Magic Loop, but if you feel comfortable converting a pattern from Magic Loop to DPNs or 9” circular methods, you are welcome to apply

Notions
3 stitch markers: 1 to mark BOR, 2 to mark Gusset Increases
1 tapestry needle

Gauge & Notes
36 stitches & 48 rows = 4” in Stockinette

Socks are cast on using Judy’s Magic Cast-on, then worked in the round from the toe up. They include a heel flap and gusset heel construction worked with short rows to eliminate gaps and no picking up of stitches, with a 1x1 ribbing on the cuff. Pattern features knits and purls, simple increases and decreases, yarn-overs, and are worked using both in-the-round (toe, foot, leg, and cuff) and flat construction (heel flap) techniques. Instructions are written, with a chart for the lace on the leg motif.

Pattern is written for 3 sizes: Small (56 sts), Medium (64 sts), and Large (72 sts).

For easy visual reference sizes are color-coded: small – blue, medium – red, and large – green.