Meet Wednesday: a playfully goth-inspired sock pattern, named for the lovably austere young daughter of the Addams family.
I actually can't believe how difficult it was for David and I to come up with a name for this pattern. I knew that between the dark purple/navy colorway and the cables that evoke lacing and braids, I wanted to pick a fictional character with distinct Gothic leanings. I toyed with the idea of calling them Ligeia, after the Poe character who comes back from the dead to haunt her former husband, or Madeline, after the incestuous sister of the House of Usher. But really, these socks aren't quite that dire - they have a certain asymmetrical playfulness that doesn't take itself too seriously.
I considered Lydia, after Winona Ryder's super-cute character in Beetlejuice. She has just the right combination of gothy aesthetic and lovable quirk, but frankly, I don't love her actual name. Given my amazingly strong crush on Morticia (as portrayed by Angelica Huston) when I was seven, it's hard to believe that it took me so long to think of little Wednesday Addams, with her neat little braided pigtails, Peter Pan collar, and games of "Is There A God?"
There's still a trace of a Poe influence here, though, because Wednesday is worked in Socks That Rock Mediumweight in the "Lenore" colorway. STR Mediumweight is significantly heavier than the sock yarns I normally use, meaning that this pattern is a good one for all you loose knitters out there: it features a 60-stitch cast-on, as opposed to the 72 I usually use. I've heard from a few people who have trouble replicating such a fine gauge, so Wednesday might be the socks for them! (Although, if you are a loose knitter, you might want to work these socks in a lighter yarn than STR Medium.)
Wednesday has a couple of details I particularly like. The twisted-stitch ribbing on the cuff transitions nicely into both the braid and ribbon motifs, and there's a column of twisted stitches centered on each large ribbon:
And there's a similarly organic transition to the heel flap, with the ribbons morphing into a standard slipped-stitch pattern while one of the braids extends down the length of the heel (and the other one extends down the side of the instep):
I'd say this pattern requires a bit more attention than the Julia Socks, with which it will be released in October. Wednesday features twisted-stitch cabling on every round, and knitting from four charts. On the other hand, the charts are easily memorized pairs of two, with the ribbon and braid motifs mirroring each other. Once you've worked a repeat or two it's easy to read the knitting and see what's coming next, since both sets of motifs are logically predictable.
I'm pleased to say I got this (and another design!) all ready for test-knitting yesterday, so things are moving right along on the accessory collection front. It's so glorious to be home, and productive again!
