New Pathways for Sock Knitters

New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi

I love knitting socks, but find it difficult to knit ones for myself that fit just right (most sock patterns are written for a much smaller foot than I happen to have). A friend recommended New Pathways for Sock Knitters because of Bordhi's innovative construction ideas and because she offers master patterns that you can customize to fit your foot perfectly.

In addition to the master patterns, Bordhi provides a number of different variations, both practical and whimsical. There's enough in this book to keep any sock knitter busy for quite some time.

I recently knit "Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks" in Handmaiden Casbah (Ravelry project page).* The pattern follows Bordhi's "Sky Sock Architecture" and is knit from the top down with increases over the arch (along the edge of the decorative stitch pattern). It uses a linen-stitch to play up the color changes in hand-painted yarn and has a sexy slit cuff.

The socks were a gift. I trusted the pattern and they ended up fitting perfectly (photo).
A few notes:
-I knit the socks separately but at the same time one section at a time.
- I did one less repeat on the leg, but it still seems very very long (though I guess I’m used to relatively short cuffs).
- I also did the standard toe (pg 129) instead of the star toe (pg 128). I did the star toe on sock #1, but was unhappy with how it looked so I ripped it out.
- Step 4 of the heel turn was unnecessary and unnecessarily confusing.

I'm definitely going to knit myself a pair of these socks in Casbah. I loved everything about the project. I'm really interested in the Coriolis architecture (it has a wonderful spiral feature) so I'll probably attempt one of those patterns on my next foray into sock innovation.

* On US 2.5 / 3.0 mm double-pointed needles in the Autumn colorway