Inspired by the garden trellis in the middle of winter that is wound tightly with naked rose thorns and lifeless vines, this toe-up sock features a charted and written design that utilizes knit and purl stitches and a slipped stitch twist to create a simple but elegant pattern. Worked with variegated yarn, the twist produces a colorful design element, which travels up the front of the foot and eventually encircles the leg. The pattern also employs a straightforward short-row non-gusseted heel technique.Design has been test knit and tech edited for accuracy and clarity. Thanks to my test knitters Bellafina and sej31015 for their feedback and their beautifully done samples.

Yarn: 270(310, 350) yards fingering weight sock yarn

Needles: US1(2.25mm) circular needles for magic loop or other method of small circumference knitting

Notions: Stitch Markers (optional), darning needle for weaving in ends

Sizing: Small (7”circumference), Medium (8” circumference), Large (9” circumference) with ¾ -1” negative ease built in. For US women’s shoe sizes 3 - 6(6 - 9, 8 - 12).

Special Techniques:

• Judy’s Magic Cast-on - http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEATmagiccaston.html

• Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off - http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php

• My heel technique uses a combination of basic heel shaping and the method for working short row stitches found in an early 2011 blog post: http://socktopusunplugged.wordpress.com/tag/shadow-wrap/

• A fantastic (and inexpensive) pattern I’ve recently discovered for a similar but more detailed heel technique (includes a useful tutorial for sock-sizing and pictures) can be found here (it is well worth the $1): http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel