Cliff Walk Socks

Description

The Cliff Walk Socks pattern is the third sock in The Handmade Sock Society Season 2 available here.

Breathe deeply. The air is salty and clean. The light is soft and magical. Seabirds wheel and cry: here at the edge of the cliffs, they are as likely to be below you as overhead. There are almost three hundred miles of breathtaking Cornish coastline. You could walk your legs right off if you wanted to. There’s so much to see, so many places to explore, and centuries of history and romance to ponder. Hidden coves and mysterious sea caves. Legends of smugglers and tales of ghosts. Evocative names like “The Devil’s Frying Pan”, “Mousehole” (say “Mowzel”), and “Tintagel”. Climbing up the winding footpath, you may find yourself completely alone, looking out over the water, keeping company with your own thoughts. There’s a peculiar kind of privacy at the top of a cliff. You can see for miles, but who can see you? You’re just a little dot on the horizon, hidden in plain sight. If it’s lonely up here, it’s the very best kind of lonesome there is.

Time spent in this landscape holds a constant reminder of what is possible. It’s a place to get perspective. The scale and wildness of the ocean find a counterpoint in the very small and very fragile. These ancient limestone cliffs may look sheer and forbidding, but they are home and shelter to a huge community of little lives. Rugged wildflowers and grasses set their seeds in the rocky crevices and cling, blossoming courageously just out of the salty spray. The birds who make their nests and lay their precious eggs on narrow ledges are braver still (or maybe just silly: their name, Fulmar, comes from the Dutch for “foolish gull”.) But this is life, and the creative life most of all: dizzying heights and humble, hard-fought corners, and a knowing that beauty can spring up even in the most unexpected and inauspicious places…when you’re willing to take a risk.

The Cliff Walk Socks are the third pattern in this season of the Handmade Sock Society. All-over lace makes them seem a little fancy, but look closer and you’ll see that the cushy stitch pattern makes these socks perfect for pulling on with a pair of boots and heading out over the dunes. The wavy lace brings to mind the ocean swell crashing into the cliffs. A simple twisted rib cuff, my trusty heel flap and gusset, and a comfortable wedge toe round out the details. Like all the Handmade Sock Society patterns, the Cliff Walk Socks is easy to customise and includes three sizes, so you can find your perfect fit every time.

SIZE
Small (Medium, Large)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
To fit approx. foot circumference of
7 (8, 9)“ /18 (20.5, 23) cm.

YARN
Sample 1:
The Yarn Tart, Suffolk Sock 80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon;
365m/400yds per 100g skein 1 x skein
Colour: Just you and me by the deep
blue sea

Sample 2:
House of a la Mode, House Fingering
80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon; 365m/400yds per 100g skein 1 x skein
Colour: Pewter

OR

Medium Size sample used 75g /
274m/300yds of fingering weight sock
yarn

NEEDLES
2.25mm (US 1), 100cm (40”) long circular needles (or size to obtain
gauge) for magic loop method or DPNs if preferred

NOTIONS
Tapestry needle
3 stitch markers

GAUGE
32 sts/46 rounds = 10 cm (4”) in
stockinette stitch