Tag Archives: Tosh Sock

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Prufrock

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot is one of my favorite poems. When reading it aloud, the rhythm is soothing, and the imagery ignites your senses at the same time. I named this pattern Prufrock because the stitch pattern reminds me of both scales and lapping waves from the final stanzas shown above.

I made these socks for my brother’s girlfriend and figured I might as well write up the pattern in the process. I used Madeline Tosh Sock in Baltic for the yarn. It is a hand dyed yarn, and the color varies starkly in some parts of the sock, but I think it adds to the wave/ocean effect. The yarn is lovely to knit.

I had about 15 grams left of the 100 gram ball, so I used about 335 yards for this size 8.5 women’s sock. I was previously totally obsessed with using up every scrap of sock yarn while knitting from the toe up, but now with tiny baby knits I can see how far a little bit of leftover yarn can go, so I don’t mind having a little left over.

The pattern is repeated over 9 rows, but it becomes easy to read after a couple of repeats. You can make the cuffs longer to use up all of your yarn. If you need to make the leg portion wider when making a longer cuff, you can go up a needle size or insert additional purl stitches at the edge of the stitch pattern. It is written for making the socks two at a time using the magic loop method, but it can be adapted to knit only one at once or using DPNs. Enjoy!

You can read more about the pattern here, or just purchase it:

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Socktober is finito!


Behold the glory of the finished Bacchus Socks. I was flipping through old Interweave magazines a couple of months ago and stumbled upon these. I was shocked to see a pattern I loved that was already toe up, and I couldn’t resist the cables. I’ve been in a picture-forming cable frame of mind for awhile now. When my LYS got Tosh Sock in Twig I felt like it was the perfect yarn for this project. I don’t normally make many neutral colored pairs of socks, but this one called to me.

I changed the pattern slightly. I prefer gusseted heels with nice reinforced heel flaps, so I did this instead of the short row heels. I was happily plugging along with the pattern, until I realized I would have to change the cable to make it look like it should on the sides. I improvised a bit, but since I was doing both socks at once, magic loop, it was easy to mirror them. I also continued the rib as it was throughout most of the body, rather than changing it at the cuff. I liked the continuity of the design better. To be honest, sometimes when given a lace or cable pattern I just use that and stick it into my usual way of making socks. It makes me happy.

The cable pattern was easy to follow and kept me interested. I started these socks a few days into October, but they had to share my hands with about 5 other ongoing or quick projects I knitted on this month. This is the first time I have legitimately participated in a Socktober event. I usually am always knitting on some kind of socks though. I still have 2 pairs on the needles…

Next up is NaKniSweMo! I’m really excited about this because I want to knit more sweaters, and I like the motivation of a KAL to make me finish. I was still trying to decide between this gem and this one. I have the patterns and yarn ready for both. I think I’m going to go with the Still Light Tunic. It’s fingering weight, and miles of stockinette, but lately I’ve found that stockinette is great to study with when I have to read, as long as I have articles/books on a book stand. It helps me stay focused. I also have two other cardigans nearly done and haunting me.

More finished knits to come as well as yarn pics for the NaKniSweMo project after I sleep on it for one more night. Happy Halloween!