Gardiner Yarn Works Cabled Lace Socks Knitting Pattern

Gardiner Yarn Works Cabled Lace Socks

What Is Being Made

The Gardiner Yarn Works Cabled Lace Socks are a pair of women's fingering-weight socks designed by Chrissy Gardiner. These socks combine decorative cable and lace stitch patterns throughout the leg and foot. Sized for Women's M with a foot circumference of 7.5", the finished socks are designed to be worn year-round and showcase the interplay between textured cables and delicate lace openwork.

Knitting Techniques

This pattern employs several advanced knitting techniques that work together to create visual interest and structure:

• Top-Down Construction: The socks are knitted from the cuff downward, beginning with a cast-on at the leg and progressing toward the foot and toe.
• Seamless, Worked-in-the-Round: The entire sock is knitted in continuous rounds using circular needles or double-pointed needles, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a smooth, comfortable fit.
• Cable Techniques: Cable stitches are integrated into the leg design, requiring the use of a cable needle to cross groups of stitches over one another, creating raised twisted rope-like textures.
• Lace Techniques: Lace stitches are combined with the cables, incorporating yarn-overs and decreases to form decorative openwork patterns that add elegance and breathability.
• Heel Flap Construction: The pattern includes a traditional heel flap worked back and forth in rows on a single needle before being grafted or joined back into the round for the foot.

Stitches Used

The pattern utilizes fundamental knitting stitches combined in the Cable & Lace pattern repeat:

• Knit (k): The basic stitch forming the foundation of the fabric.
• Purl (p): The reverse of the knit stitch, used to create texture and definition in the pattern.
• Knit 2 Together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used in lace and shaping.
• Purl 2 Together (p2tog): A decrease worked on the purl side.
• Slip Stitch (sl): Stitches are slipped as if to purl to create neat edges and transitions, particularly in the heel flap.
• Slip, Slip, Knit (SSK): A left-leaning decrease used in lace and shaping.
• Yarn-Overs: Implied in the lace pattern to create the openwork characteristic of lace knitting.
• Cable Crosses: Stitches are held on a cable needle while other stitches are worked, then the held stitches are worked to create the twisted cable effect.

Materials and Gauge

The pattern is designed to be worked with specific materials to achieve proper fit and drape:

• Yarn: Fingering-weight yarn, approximately 400 yards total. The pictured sample uses O-Wool Classic 2-Ply in Robin's Egg colorway.
• Needles: Size 1 (2.25mm) needles. Knitters may choose between a set of 5 size 1 double-pointed needles for traditional sock knitting or 24" circular needles for the two-circular-needle method. The pattern provides stitch distribution instructions for both needle options.
• Additional Tools: A cable needle is required for working the cable stitches, and a yarn needle is needed for weaving in ends and any finishing work.
• Gauge: 32 stitches and 40 rounds over 4 inches in stockinette stitch, which ensures proper sock fit and fabric density.

Pattern Overview

The sock begins with a cast-on of 70 stitches divided across the needles, with stitches designated as either heel stitches (back of leg and bottom of foot) or instep stitches (front of leg and top of foot). Knitters work the Cable & Lace pattern in the round over all stitches for approximately 6 inches or to the desired length before transitioning to the heel flap. The heel flap is worked back and forth in rows using a slip-stitch edge technique, creating a strong