Socks are meant to have zero ease (in other words, actually be the size of the foot) and are 8.25 [8.75, 9.5, 10.5] inches around and 8.66 [9.66, 10.66, 11] inches long.

My partner and I went to Paris in May of 2013. My eyes were huge and I photographed all of the lovely architectural details, wonderful clothes, and fun textures I could find.

One very small one was the charming design on the wallpaper in our hotel room. It was a very simple interplay of two different diamond designs, in a lattice. I decided to try to achieve the same balance and grace in a two-color knit design.

I wanted to add a nod to “French” seams on the back of stockings, so I added a little extra colorwork and stripes to the back of the socks.

Heels, toes and top ribbing are all worked in one color, to keep things from getting too complex. Vertical stripes on the bottom of the sole keep the socks comfortable to wear. To keep the diamond patterns on the foot flowing down from the leg, I’ve moved the gusset decreases slightly away from their usual positions on the side of the sock.

Colorwork reduces the ability of the sock to stretch, so it is worked without any ease at all, negative or positive. Be careful when you swatch and remember to block before you make your final decision on needle size. The pattern is written to be needle neutral, so you can use whatever kind of needle you prefer.

These yarns are as lush as Paris in the springtime. The sparkle in the Starry pairs beautifully with the cushy cashmere.