Best Foot Forward: Knit the Pilaster Socks

Sock yarns are one of my favorite yarn purchases: colorful bundles in the perfect put-up for one project from start to finish. I can’t count the number of fiber festivals where I’ve walked away with a few colorful skeins from an indie dyer or a local farm. Looking through my stash or sock drawer takes me back to that booth, that barn, that day. And although there’s no rule against turning one of those skeins into a little shawl (or buying a bunch and making a sweater), I love walking around in the colorful reminder of my very practical skills as a knitter.

The yardage in those skeins can vary, though, and some sock yarns are finer than others. The best sock patterns are flexible enough to adapt for foot size, gauge, and amount of yarn. The Pilaster Socks designed by Debbie O’Neill offer 3 diameters to accommodate a range of feet, and the pattern begins at the toe, so you can knit the foot and ankle as long as you like (or until you run out of yarn).

These architecturally inspired unisex cable socks are balanced between wearable and fun to knit. Because sock yarn can be very colorful, Debbie chose an alternating cable pattern that would stand out against a simple background.

A pilaster is an ornamental element in classical architecture, an upright pillar a bit like a column. The columns of cables in the Pilaster Socks stand proud of the background with syncopated double crosses. The simple cuff design evokes the capital at the top of an architectural column.

—Anne

Photo by Gale Zucker

MATERIALS AND PATTERN PDF

Yarn Fingering-weight wool yarn, about 320 (350, 420) yd (293 [320, 384] m). Shown here: Quince & Co. Finch (100% American wool; 221yd [202m] / 50g; fingering weight): aleutian, 2 skeins. [PAYWALL]
Needles Size 1 (2.25 mm): Set of 5 double-pointed (dpn). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Cable needle (cn); marker (m); tapestry needle.
Gauge 34 sts and 48 rnds = 4" (10 cm) in St st.
Finished size About 6½ (7¾, 9¼)" (16.5 [19.5, 23.5] cm) foot circumference, unstretched; will stretch to fit about 7 (8¼, 9¾)" (18 [21, 25] cm); suggested foot lengths 9 (9½, 10¼)" (23 [24, 25.5] cm), length is adjustable; to fit women’s U.S. shoe sizes 5½ to 7 narrow (7 to 8½ medium, 9 to 10 wide).

Visit farmfiberknits.com/abbreviations for terms you don’t know.

• The pattern begins with the invisible toe-up Turkish cast-on.
• You can use your preferred short-row method for the heel, but Debbie used yarnovers and backward yarnovers for symmetry. Priscilla Gibson-Roberts wrote about the technique in her 2000 Priscilla’s Dream Socks pattern, pointing out that the regular yarnovers worked on the knit side of the fabric didn't match when worked on the purl side. Working the yarnover backward—that is, between the needles from front to back and then over the top to the front—on the purl side and then correcting the mount of the yarnover on the next row produces a short-row heel that is symmetrical on the left and right sides.
• Although the pattern gives foot and ankle lengths for guidance, those measurements are completely customizable.

View and print this pattern as a PDF here: Pilaster Socks

Debbie O’Neill is a software engineer by training, but she loves to design knitwear. In addition to designs for a variety of publications, retailers, and yarn companies, she releases patterns as Nutty Creations. Find Nutty Creations on Instagram @nuttycreationsdesigns.