A fresh pair of St. Andrews Harbour socks ! I’ve been experimenting further with this fishermen gansey style, with a pair of short sporty ankle length socks. I also wanted to test the pattern in fine fingering sock yarn, and I’m so happy because I am finding this pattern to be ultimately versatile.
Note: The pattern is written for sport weight yarn for adult sizes (womens med to mens large) but I wanted to see what size would result knitting the main chart in fingering-weight sock yarn. I find that what is lacking in circumference ease, I made up in length with an extra repeat, as knitted fabric is so extremely pliable & stretchy in all directions, they fit snugly and beautifully, and the toes still have room to wiggle.
Oh, I thought I’d mention that the yarn I used is Knit Picks Stroll in Dove Heather, and which I over-dyed with blue food coloring, resulting in a lovely variegated hand-dyed affect. Also, Knit Picks Stroll is a superwash merino wool/nylon fine-fingering sock yarn, and is oh so soft, but also tends to get a little fuzzy, which is more noticeable in this photo…
I knit the yarn with US2 [2.75mm] needles with about 8 sts = 1″, and I am sure that if knit with smaller needles, getting 9 – 10 sts = 1″ , that these socks — in the Chart A– would be great for children. I am really happy with the experiment, and now I can confidently recommend this sock pattern for small sizes!
Pattern: St Andrews Harbour socks, in Chart A (56 stitches).
Size: Circ = 6.25″ flat, unstretched. Height = 5″. Foot length = 9″
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll fingering weight sock yarn.
More details on Ravelry HERE.
Jenjoyce Design 
Beautiful color….and of course I love that pattern.
Thanks Sorcha, these were my ‘anxiety knitting’ in the last many weeks… just a few rows at a time, as needed. Now going to overdye some more o’ that Kroy and see what happens! xx
Maybe in dusty rose, I’ll try another St Andrews Harbour tam, or mitts!
Yeah! Dusty rose sounds good! I also love the blueish color you created.
Jen, how do you manage it, to fix the overdye color ( do you know what I am trying to ask….. I am wondering, if the beautiful handdye effect washes out….)?
Lovely project, your ankle socks!
P.s. how about a tutorial: overdye commercial yarns!
Thanks Petra! I will tell you, I only ever use white vinegar to ‘acid dye’ with… for wool, silk, and other protein fibers, vinegar is good. I’ll maybe make an over-dye with food-color tutorial some time, next time… we’ll see! xx
Ok, spent yesterday afternoon taking photos and writing about my food-color dip dye method, and now that the yarn is ready to cast on, I think another pair of sturdy boot socks, for it’s just not fine enough for a Petra Tam. I am going to get some special yarn for that!
They look great!
Thank you xx
I love the tonal effect you got by over dyeing the yarn. Your socks are splendid. 🙂
Wen, after the wildfire, losing all those expensive Jaquard dyes I had, I decided to give up on dying. Then, I thought maybe I shouldn’t give up entirely, and then how about experimenting with non-toxic & gentle food coloring… and that is what I am doing. The thing is with the food coloring, it’s wild and each dip yields a slightly different hue it seems, and takes a lot of dye to get a medium tone. So, I am thinking overdying natural heathers of greys & beiges would be good, so I can just ‘wash over’ with a little tint, and hope for the best! 🙂 xx
I love these socks! I’m up for trying an overdye. I have some Easter egg dyes and some KoolAide too. This is the year I make socks for me. Heading off to get the pattern and look through my sock yarn stash. Yay!
Wow Morrie ~~ great! Hey, you know, I found that when I wind the ball into a large skein, of course, the over-dye is quite different than when I make a ‘shorter’ skein. My guess is that as I dip the skein in — always bottom of hanging skein first, to get most even on all the yarn winds– that the larger the skein, the longer the gradient. This may seem completely obvious to you, but it was something I only figured out when dying this blue batch! Today I am going to try a red over the Kroy ” linen ” sock yarn, and I’m going to make a really wide skein. Of course, soaking it long to ensure evenness in that first ‘hit’ when dipped in the dye is important I find too. Also , lastly, I am lazy, I just put the vinegar straight into the dye bath. Here I go, going for ‘dusty rose’ today~ ! I can’t wait to see (on your blog, please just hit my comments here with a link to your post… I beg you) xx,
Oh, and I think designating A Year For Socks For You is amazing!
How beautimussiful! Hugs to you Jen!!