Here is your pattern for the optional round. The name of this pattern is Woven Cable Eyelt Socks but I think of them as Under the Porch because they remind me of the lattice found sheathing a porch on a country house.
It’s different from earlier rounds for a few reasons but mostly because it’s been highly modified since it was first submitted. Originally, it was written for dk weight yarn and larger needles. I knit the test sock (seen here in red) and it just didn’t work for me. The holes opened up too much and looked like they were straining, the heel was too snug and tricky to get on and… a DK yarn over US 5 needles would make these wayyyy too fast a knit for Sock Madness.
I loved the idea of a cabled sock and I really wanted it to work after all of the effort it took for the designer to get it submitted to us. You just have no idea how many emails we got. They came from home and from Kinkos etc. It came in pieces and different file sizes.
After getting the designer’s ok, I started to modify this pattern for fingering weight yarn and changed ALL the numbers. Since the pattern is mirrored on these socks that was a super tedious task but the resulting socks work much better. The cables are finer and more plentiful in this new version of the sock. The eyelets look more delicate and the sock appears a bit more refined and less as if my foot may burst out of it. Most importantly, the heel is easier to get on although I’d still watch the gauge around the heel.
The cables concerned me a little though. For me, these socks are perfect with Crocs or for walking around the house. In a shoe, I’m not sure how the cables would feel so we weren’t comfortable making these a required pattern. With this in mind - the optional round was born.
Feel free to play with this pattern as you please. In this round only, speed is not an issue so you may add, delete, amend and adjust as you wish. The only requirement is that the cable pattern appear on the sock around the leg. It doesn’t have to remain an anklet and the pattern need not run up the whole leg.
The designer chose to use a “princess foot” because the knit side of the fabric is more comfortable for some sensitive feet but you don’t have to.
This round is for any player who wants to give it a go. It is NOT limited to the remaining twelve players whio are still in the competition. We’d love to see what you come up with.
Because of the way this pattern developed (I didn’t complete the number revisions until last night) we have no designer bio for this round. Hello Technoknitter!
This pattern had its roots in last year’s competition. I began with a basic toe-up sock,using wide-ish 3×1 ribs to stretch but look more elegantly smooth than 2×2. The cuff idea came from Sock Madness 2007 round 3, “Painted Madness” by Tricia Weatherston (to get that pattern, e-mail Tricia at 
