Skrefbót by Hélène Magnússon

Skrefbót

Knitting
October 2020
DK (11 wpi) ?
26 stitches and 32 rows = 4 inches
in Stocking stitch
US 1½ - 2.5 mm
349 - 423 yards (319 - 387 m)
1(2)
English French Icelandic

The Skrefbót socks are part of the book Socks of Iceland which is released in the form of a Club: get a pattern every week until the end of the year 2020. You can join at anytime.
For more info, please visit https://icelandicknitter.com/product/socks-of-iceland-club/

Sizes: 1(2) to fit shoe sizes EU 36-40(42-46) / US 5½-9(9½-13). You can achieve more sizes by changing needle size and adjust the height and length by adding or withdrawing bands of motif.
Samples shown are a size 1 (brown and white) and a Size 2 (brown and black).

Finished measurements
Foot circumference: 21(25.5) cm / 8¼(10)”
Leg length: 20.5(22) cm / 8(8½)”
Foot length: adaptable
Recommended fit: negative ease of 0-2.5 cm / 0-1” in circumference and 5% in length.

Yardage estimation (depends also on the sock length):
MC: 192(233) m/ 210(255) yds
CC: 127(154) m/ 139(168) yds

While Icelandic socks were very often plain, this was not the case with the traditional mittens from which I was largely inspired, for example in this model of Skrefbót socks (Skrefbót, which means gusset in Icelandic, also refers to a step). Their small, simple and repetitive stranded knitting pattern creates an almost double fabric and make them toasty.
You might recognize the pattern in the Checkered Mittens from my book Icelandic handknits: I was so smitten by the unusually placed gusset in the original men mittens in the Textile Museum in Blönduós which inspired them that I even made a matching hat and a matching lopi sweater!
The Skrefbót socks start with a rounded cast on at the cuff and featured an afterthought heel with the motif flowing into it. The heel and the toe are shaped with decreases within each motif repetition, creating a very pleasing patterning similar to the crown of a hat.
My “beloved” gusset is placed under the sole. This make the socks very comfortable to wear and easy to put on, despise the relative lack of elasticity of the checked motif itself.