Gardiner Yarn Works Vinings Socks Knitting Pattern

Vinings Socks by Gardiner Yarn Works

What is Being Made

Vinings is a pair of knitted socks designed by Chrissy Gardiner and featured in the book Indie Socks: Knitting Patterns and Dyer Profiles Featuring Hand-Dyed Yarns. The socks showcase a naturalistic leaf motif pattern inspired by the Pacific Northwest landscape, with falling leaves adorning the front panel and climbing vines running up the back. The design is named after the Vinings neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, where the designer and her husband lived early in their marriage—a place characterized by tall trees and lush vegetation.

Techniques Used

The Vinings socks employ multiple advanced knitting techniques to create visual interest and structural integrity. The pattern utilizes top-down construction, allowing knitters to try on the socks as they progress and adjust the length to fit. The socks are worked in the round using double-pointed needles, creating a seamless, tubular fabric without the need for seaming. The design also incorporates lace techniques through yarn-over decreases that form the delicate leaf pattern. Additionally, sections are worked flat to accommodate specific stitch patterns. The diagonal movement created by the leaf motifs and the strategic placement of purl stitches within seeded rib panels help break up subtle color variations in hand-dyed yarn, ensuring the pattern remains visually distinct.

Stitches Used

The pattern employs a range of fundamental and decorative stitches. Stockinette stitch forms the primary fabric base, worked at a gauge of 9 stitches and 12 rounds per inch. Seeded rib panels provide textural contrast between the leaf pattern sections, combining knit and purl stitches in alternating sequences. The leaf pattern itself is created using yarn-over (YO) increases paired with slip-slip-knit (SSK) and knit-two-together (k2tog) decreases to form the characteristic diagonal lines of falling and climbing foliage. Additional techniques include wrap and turn (W&T) for short-row shaping, knit-front-and-back (k-fb) for increases, and knit-three-together (k3tog) for more pronounced decreases. The combination of these stitches creates both the visual leaf motifs and the structural shaping necessary for a well-fitting sock.

Materials

The Vinings socks require approximately 380 yards of fingering-weight yarn. The sample featured in the pattern uses Pico(t) La Libera, a yarn created by Portland-based dyer Stevanie Pico, composed of 80% superwash merino wool and 20% nylon in the colorway 'Gwendolyn'. This blend provides durability and easy care while maintaining the softness and elasticity necessary for comfortable socks. The pattern calls for US 1 (2.25mm) needles or the size needed to obtain the specified gauge, along with a yarn needle for weaving in ends. The designer recommends selecting a light-colored semi-solid or very slightly variegated colorway, as the leaf pattern tends to disappear or become unclear when worked in stronger or heavily variegated colors.

Sizing

The Vinings pattern is available in two sizes: a smaller size with a foot circumference of approximately 7-1/2 inches and a larger size with a foot circumference of approximately 9 inches, accommodating a range of foot sizes.