There was once a time when I decided to knit a scarf. Not just any scarf – a cabled scarf of many colors, where every cable was a color of its own. I loved the cable pattern of this scarf. I loved it so much that, even after six feet of it plus massive intarsia, I wanted to put it on socks. Well, not the exact cable -- I changed it up a little bit. I changed where some of the cables went, micro-sized the motif, made the cables one twisted stitch instead of two, and adapted it to working in the round. Then I put it on a sock, and Primrose was born.

Primrose is a toe-up sock with a gusset and a slip-stitch heel. I highly recommended you work the cables without a cable needle – it will make these socks much less fiddly and much more fun!
Instructions are provided for working the cables both with and without a cable needle.

The bind-off is something like a tubular-cast off, except without the set-up rows and the additional circular needle, and is one of my favorites.

SIZE
Women’s M[L] (shown in size M)
To fit foot circumference of 8[9] inches

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
7[8] inches unstretched

MATERIALS
Yarn
Indigo Moon Superwash [100% Superwash Merino Wool; 370yd per 100g skein]: color: Sorbet; 2[2] skeins

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 set #1/2.25mm dpns
OR
1 US #1/2.25mm circular needle, 32 inches or longer
OR
2 US #1/2.25mm circular needles, 32 inches or shorter

Notions
Yarn needle
Cable needle [optional]

GAUGE

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

LLI: Insert left needle into left loop of stitch two rows below last completed stitch, place it onto the left needle. Knit this stitch through the back loop.

RLI: Insert right needle into right loop of stitch just below next stitch. Place it onto left needle and knit it, then knit the stitch on needle

Left Cross:
Working with a Cable Needle: Slip next stitch onto cable needle and hold in front of work; k1 tbl, then k1 tbl from cable needle.
Working without a Cable Needle: Skip the first stitch and knit into the back of the second stitch, leaving it on the needle, then knit into back of the first stitch, and slip them both off the needle.

Right Cross:
Working with a Cable Needle: Slip next stitch onto cable needle and hold in back of work, k1 tbl, then k1 tbl from cable needle.

Working without a Cable Needle: From the front of the work, insert right needle into second stitch on the left needle, p-wise. Slip both stitches off the left needle. One stitch is now loose, and the other is on the right needle. Slip the loose stitch back on to the left needle, then slip the other stitch back from the right needle to the left needle. K2 tbl.

Left Twist:
Working with a Cable Needle: Slip next stitch onto cable needle and hold in front of work; p1, then k1 tbl from cable needle.

Working without a Cable Needle: Skip the first stitch and p tbl second stitch on the needle, leaving it on the needle; k tbl the first stitch off the needle and slip them both off together.

Right Twist:
Working with a Cable Needle:Slip next stitch onto cable needle and hold in back of work, k1 tbl, then p1 from cable needle.

Working without a Cable Needle: From the front of the work, insert right needle into second stitch on the left needle, p-wise. Slip both stitches off the left needle. One stitch is now loose, and the other is on the right needle. Slip the loose stitch back on to the left needle, then slip the other stitch back from the right needle to the left needle. K1 tbl, P1.

3-Stitch Twist:
Working with a Cable Needle: Slip next stitch onto cable needle and hold in front of work, p1. Move cable needle to back of work, k tbl next st, then k 1 tbl from cable needle.

Working without a Cable Needle: From the back of the work, insert right needle into second stitch on the left needle, p-wise. Slip both stitches off the left needle. One stitch is now loose, and the other is on the right needle. Slip the loose stitch back on to the left needle, then slip the other stitch back from the right needle to the left needle. P1. From the front of the work, insert right needle into second stitch on the left needle, p-wise. Slip both stitches off the left needle. One stitch is now loose, and the other is on the right needle. Slip the loose stitch back on to the left needle, then slip the other stitch back form the right needle to the left needle. K2 tbl.

DIRECTIONS

Foot
Work Set-up Round as follows:
Size M: K1, p1, k1, p2, [k1, kfb, p1] 7 times, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1; k to end of round (73 sts, 40 on instep, 33 on sole).
Size L: K1, p1, kfb, p1, [k1, kfb, p1] 10 times, k1, p1, k1; k to end of round (85 sts, 48 on instep, 37 on sole).

Foot Round: Work Foot Chart on 40[48] instep sts, k to end of round.

Work Foot Round until foot measures 3 inches short of full foot length, ending on a Chart row 5[3] or 15[13]. Take note of which round you ended on. If your perfect length is in between the two rows, go shorter rather than longer - the heel has some stretch to it.

Gusset
Round 1: Work Foot Chart as established on instep; k1, LLI, K to last st, RLI, k1.
Round 2: Work Foot Chart on instep sts, k sole sts.

Repeat these two rounds 10[11] more times. 55[61] sts on the sole. You should end on round 7 if you started the gusset after round 5[3], or round 17 if you started the gusset after row 15[13].

Work needle 2 as follows:
Row 1 [RS]: K37[41] , kfb, k1, w&t.
Row 2 [WS]: P22[24], pfb, p1, w&t.
Row 3 [RS]:K20[22], kfb, k1, w&t.
Row 4[WS]: P18[20], pfb, p1, w&t.
Row 5 [RS]: K16[18], kfb, k1, w&t.
Row 6[WS] :P14[16], pfb, p1, w&t.
Row 7 [RS] :K12[14], kfb, k1, w&t.
Row 8 [WS]:P10[12], pfb, p1, w&t.

Knit to end of round, knitting the wrapped stitches together with their wraps, as you come to them. 63[69] sts on sole.

Heel Flap
Work Foot Chart on instep sts.

Work sole sts as follows:
Row 1 [RS]: K47[52], knitting the wrapped stitches together with their wraps, as you come to them, ssk, turn.
Row 2 [WS]:Sl1, p31[35], p2tog, turn.
Row 3 [RS]:[Sl1, K1] 16[18] times, ssk, turn.

Work rows 2 and 3  13[14] times
Next row [WS]: Sl1, p31[35], p2tog, w&t.
Last row [RS]: K to end of sole sts. 33[37] sts on the sole.

80[96] sts total – 40[48] each on instep and sole.

Work Leg Chart, starting on round 1 or 11 as appropriate, until 1 inch short of desired length, ending on round 14.  Sock as photographed has leg measuring 8.5 inches, and has 3 full repeats of the pattern plus the 14 extra rounds.

Note: For Rounds 1 and 11 on the leg chart, the cable crossing at the end of the round is worked over the last st of the sole and the first st of the instep. Hence there is no stitch at the beginning of rounds 2 and 12.

Cuff
Set-up round: [K1 tbl, p2tog, k1 tbl, p1, k2tog, p1] 10[12] times. 60[72] sts total.

Ribbing round: [K1 tbl, p1] to end of round.
Work Ribbing round for 1 inch.
BO using the Invisible BO method.

FINISHING
Weave in ends. Block if desired.

Sarah V Miller is currently working on her BS in Marine Biology and Chemistry from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. She is often found knitting on campus, both in and out of class, as well as writing various lab reports. Off campus, she can be seen raising aplysia, harvesting macroalgae, scuba diving, and ogling all the yarn at the LYS. Nine times out of ten, there is a pair of socks on her needles.

She blogs here, and can be found on Ravelry as bijou3owl.