Stripey steps
Candy cane wool socks: the red-and-white Christmas must-have
Is there anything more festive than candy cane stripes? These over-the-knee colorwork socks feature classic red and white stripes. Knit them for yourself or as a delightful gift!
Size: EU 39.
Candy cane socks: supplies
- Novita 7 Veljestä yarn (80% wool, 20% polyamide, 100 g = 200 m) in these amounts: 120 g of red (shade 549), 145 g of white (011), and 35 g of green (391)
- Double-pointed needles 3.5 mm (US 4)
- Tapestry needle
Gauge: 23 sts and 25 rnds = 10 × 10 cm.
Abbreviations
- st: stitch
- k: knit, knit stitch
- p: purl, purl stitch
- k tbl: knit through the back loop
- tog: together
- rnd: round
- RS: right side
- WS: wrong side
- CC: contrast color
- MC: main color
- SSK: slip two stitches one at a time as if to knit. Insert the left needle through these stitches and knit them together through the back loop.
How to knit the Candy cane socks
- Cast on 72 sts with the white yarn. Work ribbing: *k1 tbl, p1*. Repeat *–* for 20 rnds. Then knit 1 rnd and at the same time increase evenly 8 sts (80 sts total).
- Work Chart 1. The chart repeats 5 times in a round.
- Work Chart 2.
- After finishing the chart, you have 54 sts on your needles. Divide the sts as 13/14/13/14. Continue as follows: On Needle 1, knit the first st with white and the second with red. Continue the diagonal pattern across Needles 1–4 until only the last 2 sts of Needle 4 remain. Knit the second-to-last st in red and the last st in white. Continue like this for a total of 20 rnds. After that, the number of rnds after the increase is 24 + 44 + 20 = 88.
- Check that you have 13/14/13/14 sts on each needle. Break the white yarn. The heel is worked in red. Slip the sts on Needle 1 onto Needle 4. Turn. P27. Turn.
- K2, *slip 1, k1*. Repeat *–* until 1 st is left. Knit the last st. Turn. K2, p23, k2. Turn. Repeat these two rows until the heel flap is 26 rnds tall and you have just completed a WS row.
- Begin the heel turn. K9 in the reinforced stitch pattern. *Work 8 more sts in the reinforced stitch pattern, then SSK. Turn. Slip 1 purlwise, p7, then p2tog.* Repeat *–* until only the center 9 sts remain. K5 to move the beginning of the rnd to the middle of the sole. Pick up 14 sts along each side on Needles 1 and 4. You now have 64 sts total.
- Work Chart 3.
- After completing the chart, you have 52 sts. Check that you have 13/13/13/13 sts on each needle.
- Continue working the vertical stripes on Needles 1 and 4 and diagonal stripes on Needles 2 and 3, as before.
- Begin the toe decreases when the sock covers your little toe. First, work the decreases every other rnd: Needles 1 and 3: Work the pattern until 3 sts remain. K2tog in red, then knit the last st in white. On the plain rnd: Work the pattern until 2 sts remain. K1 in red, then k1 in white. Needles 2 and 4: K1 in white, then SSK in red, and continue the pattern to the end. On the plain rnd: K1 in white, then k1 in red. Continue the pattern to the end.
- When each needle has 8 sts left, continue decreasing on every rnd until there are 3 sts on each needle. Break the yarns, weave in the ends, and finish.
Why are candy cane sticks such a big part of Christmas?
The Christmas tradition linked to candy cane sticks dates back to 17th-century Germany. It is said that the choir director of Cologne Cathedral requested sugar sticks shaped like a shepherd’s crook for the children’s Christmas pageant. In the early 1900s, candy canes began to appear in red and white, and today they are one of the most recognizable symbols of Christmas.
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Candy cane socks knitting charts(PDF)
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