My mom’s name is Isabelle, but her closest friends and family call her Bella.

This has been quite a year for my mom.  She had minor leg surgery, was diagnosed with lung cancer, braved the surgery and recovery of breathing without half of one of her lungs, sold her house, and moved to Texas without ever having visited before.

I probably spent more time with my mom this year than I did in the past 5 years combined, and yet I still miss her now that she’s settled in Texas.

My mom loves word puzzles, and the last time she visited she left behind her pen – a purple ball point.  I started using it all the time as a little way of being close to her.

I used that pen when designing these socks. As I knitted the sock I realized it was symbolic of our relationship (and probably a lot of other mother-daughter relationships).  The alternating colors are me and my mom.  They’re equally represented, although sometimes we see more of one color than the other.  Sometimes the colors that fall next to each other have great contrast, and at other times they’re more similar.  Just like our relationship – sometimes laughing together, sometimes arguing, but always loving each other  The 2 row striping on the heel and toe show us at our closest.  Like the time she stayed at my house for several weeks after a bad breakup, or earlier this year when she was in the hospital.

Make these socks for yourself and dedicate them to someone special in your life.  Or share the project with another knitter you’re close to, picking out a ball of yarn from each of your stashes.  Or use sock scraps and have a momento of all the socks you’ve made for yourself and others.

And if you’re lucky enough to have your mom close by, give her a hug.

Sizes

One size, 8″ in circumference.

Yarn

Noro Kureyon Sock (70% wool, 20% nylon; 420 m / 100 grams); color S102, 1 ball

Needles

US#1 (2.5 mm): 36″ or 48″ circular for magic loop

Gauge

32 sts and 40 rows = 4″ in St st

Notions

Tapestry needle, 2 stitch markers.

Pattern Notes

The socks are knit toe-up using the magic loop method.  A gusseted, short row heel creates a comfortable sock, and a seeded rib tops off the cuff.

To create the stripes, split the ball into two.  Don’t try to knit from both ends of the ball – it will become a tangled mess.  The stripes are created by alternating rounds from Ball One with rounds from Ball 2.  Carry the non-working yarn along the back.

If the colors of the stripes become too similar, wind off a few yards from one of the balls until you’ve come to a color with more contrast.

Socks

Make 2

Toe

CO 16 sts with Ball 1 over 2 needles and begin working magic loop in the rnd. Work 1 rnd plain.

Next rnd (increase rnd): K1, kf&b, knit until 3 sts rem, kf&b, k2 on each ndle; 4 sts inc’d

Work increase rnd once more.  Switch to Ball 2.

Work increase rnd every rnd until you have 40 sts (20 sts per ndl), continuing to switch between ball 1 and ball 2 every 2 rnds,

Continue to work increase rnd every other rnd until you have 60 sts (30 sts per ndl), switching yarns every 2 rnds.

Work 8 rnds plain, switching yarns every 2 rnds.

Dip Stitch (Instep)

Rnd 1: Switch to other ball of yarn.  K2, *(knit into the stitch 5 rnds below, knit into the stitch on the left needle, pass the second stitch over the first), k3*
Rnds 2-4: K
Rnd 5: Switch to other ball of yarn.  *(Knit into the stitch 5 rnds below, knit into the stitch on the left needle, pass the second stitch over the first), k3*, (knit into the stitch 5 rnds below, knit into the stitch on the left needle, pass the second stitch over the first), k1
Rnds 6-8: K

Instep

Setup: Switch to other ball of yarn.  Work 4 rnds plain.

Work Dip Stitch (Instep) on instep and St st on sole until 1” bef heel start, ending with Rnd 1 or Rnd 5.

Gusset

Next rnd (gusset increase): Rli, pm, work to end of needle as set, pm, lli, work sole evenly; 2 sts inc’d on instep.

RLI and LLI are left- and right-leaning increases. {read our tutorial here}

Work gusset increases every other rnd 5 more times; 42 instep sts, 30 sole sts.

Work 1 rnd plain on instep only, so you end on Rnd 4 or Rnd 8.  Working yarn is set so you are ready to work the sole.  Make note of rnd you ended on so you can continue when working the leg.

Heel

Note: Heel is worked using short rows, changing colors every other row. {read our tutorial on short rows}

Do not change colors.

Sole short rows: Knit until 1 st rem, w&t, purl until 1 st rem, w&t.

Break other color of yarn and rejoin to begin using it for the heel.  Work 2 more sole short rows.  Cont as set, changing yarns every other row and working sole short rows until you have 11 sts wrapped on each side and 8 sts unwrapped in center.

Do not change colors.

Back short rows: Knit until you reach first wrap, pickup and work wrap, w&t next st, purl until you reach first wrap, pickup and work wrap, w&t.

Change colors and work 2 more back short rows.  Note that sts will be double wrapped.  Just pickup both wraps and treat them as one.  Cont as set, changing yarns every other row and working back short rows until all wraps have been worked.

Setup Leg

Break both yarns.  Redistribute sts so you are ready to work the front (instep) sts.

Join the yarn you didn’t end the instep with so it creates a new stripe.  Move markers in 1 st so they are 7 sts in from each side.

Next Rnd (gusset dec rnd): Work until 2 sts bef m, k2tog, work Dip Stitch rnd 1 or 5 to m (depending on which rnd you ended instep with before working heel), sm, ssk, knit to end of needle.  Work back needle plain. As with the leg, alternate yarn balls every 4 rnds.  Note that the k2tog takes the place of the first Dip Stitch stitch, and the ssk takes the place of the last Dip Stitch stitch.

Work gusset dec rnd every other rnd for another 5 rnds.  You will have 30 sts on the front. Work 1 rnd plain (you will end with rnd 4 or 8)

Work 4 more rnds as est (Dip Stitch on front, St st on back).

Begin Back Patterning

Dip Stitch (Leg)

Rnd 1: Switch to other ball of yarn.  K2, *(knit into the stitch 5 rnds below, knit into the stitch on the left needle, pass the second stitch over the first), k3*
Rnds 2-4: K
Rnd 5: Switch to other ball of yarn.  *(Knit into the stitch 5 rnds below, knit into the stitch on the left needle, pass the second stitch over the first), k3*
Rnds 6-8: K

Work Dip Stitch (leg) across sts on both ndls.

Work as est until sock is 1” less than desired length.

Cuff

Seeded Rib

Rnd 1: *K2, p1, k1*
Rnd 2: *K3, p1*

Work seeded rib for 1”, alternating colors every 2 rnds.

BO loosely.

Finishing

Weave in ends.  Block and enjoy!  And then give your mom another hug.