Youturn is a little whimsical, I felt the need to work on a design that wasn’t typical in terms of construction. I’m easily bored and I like to play with techniques in order to preserve my interest. The heel turning in this sock is one I first worked with in my first Sock Club, four years ago. For some reason I haven’t returned to it since and I decided I should and see how I could develop another design to complement it. Youturn’s gusset is on the top of the sock and its placement allows me to twist the strong striping texture that runs along the side the foot up onto the leg. I’ve chosen a short, round toe - this works well for many people’s toe shapes, including the very square. Despite the modeled colour, this pattern is unisex and it would look great knitted in any mostly solid hue that takes your fancy.

The back of Youturn is kept plain, both for speedy knitting and so the bold front structures are not lost in an overall pattern.There is a chart to follow, but just 5 different stitch types are involved and the design is very easy to “read” once you have it underway. You’ll find that you only need to keep track of the middle ten stitches after a while, the rest are highly predictable. If you are a seasoned sock knitter, I hope this pattern will prove a pleasant deviation from more standard methods.

Pattern debuted as instalment one of the Vintage Purls Winter Sock Yarn Club 2013.