INTRODUCTION

Candied Violets

by Heatherly Walker

During our first year of marriage, my husband and I spent 3 months in Freiburg, Germany. One weekend, he surprised me with trip to in Colmar, France. We walked the streets, ate foods that we could not pronounce, and discovered violet candies. I can distinctly remember walking the street in the dreary weather of spring and the taste of the violet candy melting in my mouth. Having been pregnant with our first child, the hormones may have made this memory stronger and the taste of those candies five times better than it would normally have been. I have never found its equal since.

The closest I have come is Violet Jelly. With a small collection of toddler children, I would take them on fairy hunts and have them collect violets which we would use to create magical violet jelly. The blossoms were measured by the teacup and only when lemon juice was added to the mixture, would it change colours before their eyes.

In an attempt to capture the vintage violet confectionary, I present: (Candied Violets). In the cast on of the sock, you will find a new technique for adding the look of trimming and a touch of colour. The beads are a delicate addition reminiscent of the violet sugaring process.

Nerdy Background stuff:
Violets were once used to treat inflammation, fever and sore throats, and heart ailments thus it commonly being called 'hearts ease'. Violet syrups, violet perfumes and sugared violets followed. Sugared flowers are a tradition from the 13th century. They were initially a sweet decoration, however with the Violette de Toulouse, the flowers themselves became the center piece. Candied violets made their appearance sometime around 1818. The town of Toulouse was nicknamed ''la cite de la violette.'' At one time 10 tons of violets were available. Over 600 farming families survived on the winter cultivation of violets. In the 1980s with only 3 farms, the availability of violets dropped to about 1 ton. This caused a preservation effort and we have since seen a resurgence in the industry. The current appreciation of vintage perfumes and classic cocktails such as the Aviation, the Blue Night and the Blue Moon, has also helped.

photos: Heatherly Walker

SIZE

Adult S[M, L, XL]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

7[8, 9, 10] inches/ 18[20.5, 23, 25.5] cm
Note: Choose a size with approximately 1 inch/2.5cm of negative ease in foot circumference.

MATERIALS

Yarn

Darker sample: Violette
Phydeaux Designs Down Fingering [80% merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% nylon; 435yds per 100g skein]; color:
[MC] Candied Violets; 1 skein
[CC1] Mist; 5 yards
Shown in size S.

Lighter sample: Yvette
Anzula Luster [50% SW Merino, 50% Tussah Silk; 405yds per 100g skein]; color:
[MC] Irene; 1 skein
[CC1] Grape; 5 yards
Shown in size S.

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]
US #2/2.75mm needles for small circumference in the round
US #2.5/3mm needles for small circumference in the round

Notions
yarn needle
Beads 6/0 -need 48 [48, 64, 64] beads per pair (do not pre-string)
Super-floss or small crochet hook for placing beads on stitch

GAUGE

32 sts/48 rounds = 4 inches/10 cm in stockinette stitch US #2/2.75mm
32 sts/48 rounds = 4 inches/10 cm in pattern stitch US #2/2.75mm

PATTERN NOTES

[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

2-Color Frilled Cast On: Keeping about an 8 inch/20cm tail for seaming, make slip knot from both MC and CC held together. This slip knot will be undone after cast on is complete. Set up as if for Long Tail CO, keeping CC on left (over thumb) and MC on Right (over fingers). *CO 4 stitches. Lift sts one at a time over last st cast on (stitch 1) in this order st #2 over, st #3 over, St #4 over. Cast on 1 more stitch. This makes 1 pair of stitches. Repeat from * until you have the correct number of stitch pairs. (see images below)

Place bead
Remove stitch from left needle, place bead onto stitch, return stitch to left needle and knit it, to lock the bead into place. You can place the stitch using a small crochet hook, dental floss, or “super floss”. See this tutorial for information.

Kitchener Stitch
Instructions for grafting with Kitchener stitch can be found here.

CHARTS

DIRECTIONS

Cuff
With larger needles, CO 28[30, 36, 40] stitches.
Row 1 [WS]: Knit into the front and back of each stitch. 56[64, 72, 80] stitches.
Row 2 [RS]: (K2tog, yo) across.

Distribute across your needles as you prefer and join for working in the round.
Purl 1 round, knit 1 round.

Leg
Leg round: Work appropriate size chart four times around.

Work chart rows 1-3[1-4, 1-5, 1-6] three times.
Change to smaller needles.
Work chart rows 4-19[5-25, 6-29, 7-35] twice.
Work chart rows 1-3[1-4, 1-5, 1-6] twice more, ending final round 1 st before the end of the round. Move this stitch – a purl – to the start of the round. This is the new start of round position. The start of the round is the start of the instep, and it begins and ends with a purl stitch.

Heel Flap
Turn so that WS is facing. Heel is worked over 27[31, 35, 39] sts. 29[33, 37, 41] sts will be held for instep.

Next row [WS]: Work appropriate size heel flap across.

Continue as set until Heel Flap chart has been completed 2[4, 2, 4] times.
Size Small only, work chart rows 1-2 once more.
WS is facing for heel turn.

Heel Turn
Row 1 [WS]: Sl 1, p 15[17, 19, 21] , p2tog, p1.
Row 2 [RS]: Sl 1, k6, ssk, k1.
Row 3 [WS]: Sl 1, p7, p2tog, p1.
Row 4 [RS]: Sl 1, k8, ssk, k1.
Row 5 [WS]: Sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1.
Row 6 [RS]: Sl 1, k10, ssk, k1.
Row 7 [WS]: Sl 1, p11, p2tog, p1.
Row 8 [RS]: Sl 1, k12, ssk, k1.
Row 9 [WS]: Sl 1, p13, p2tog, p1.
Row 10 [RS]: Sl 1, k14, ssk, k1.

Size S stop here, proceed to Gusset. 17 sts rem for this size.
Row 11 [WS]: Sl 1, p15, p2tog, p1.
Row 12 [RS]: Sl 1, k16, ssk, k1.
Size M stop here, proceed to Gusset. 19 sts rem for this size.

Row 13 [WS]: Sl 1, p17, p2tog, p1.
Row 14 [RS]: Sl 1, k18, ssk, k1.
Size L stop here, proceed to Gusset. 21 sts rem for this size.

Row 15 [WS]: Sl 1, p19, p2tog, p1.
Row 16 [RS]: Sl 1, k20, ssk, k1.
Size XL stop here, proceed to Gusset. 23 sts rem for this size.

Gusset
Set-Up Round: Pick up and k15[16, 20, 24] sts along adjacent edge of heel flap; m1p, following appropriate size Foot chart, work across instep sts in pattern; m1p, pick up and k15[16, 20, 24] sts along remaining edge of heel flap, k8[9, 10, 11] to center of heel. This point will now be beginning of round, place marker and rearrange sts as you prefer. 78[86, 100, 114] sts.

Round 1: K to instep, work Instep in pattern; k to end of round.
Round 2: K to last 3 sts before instep, k2tog, k1; work in pattern across instep; k1, ssk, k to end of round. 2 sts decreased.
Repeat these 2 rounds until 10[10, 13, 15] more times. 56[64, 72, 80] sts remain.

Foot
Following chart for appropriate size, working rows 1-3[1-4,  1-5,  1-6] twice, then rows 4-6[5-8, 6-10, 7-12] twice.
Repeat this pattern until sock measures 2 inches/5cm less than desired finished length. End on either row  3/6[4/8,  5/10,  6/12] .

Toe
Decrease round: Knit to 3 sts before instep, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k to last 3 sts of instep, k2tog, k1: k1, ssk, k to end of round. 4 sts decreased.
Following round: Knit.

Repeat the last 2 rounds 7[9, 10, 12] more times, until 16[17, 20, 20] sts rem.

Size M only, final round: K to 2 sts before instep, k2tog. 16 sts rem.
All other sizes: K to start of instep.

FINISHING

Use Kitchener stitch to graft toe closed. Seam cuff. Weave in ends. Block lightly.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Heatherly Walker lives in Northern California with her husband and their 6 children. Since the majority of her children are no longer school age, Heatherly took up the challenge of designing 1 sock a month for the Knit From Stash KAL which is in its 2nd year.

Heatherly has several other projects in the works, including books, which you can read more about on her blog.

Pattern & images © 2016 Heatherly Walker. Contact Heatherly