Lenz Socks – Knitting pattern

The Lenz Socks are colourwork socks that celebrate the joy of discovering the first colourful blossoms after the cold season. "Lenz" is a poetic German word for "spring". It is rarely used in everyday language, but appears in many poems and folk songs lauding the sense of new beginnings which springtime brings. 

For the flower section, there is one long chart without any pattern repeats (graded for two width options). Seeing the picture unfold gradually will definitely keep you thinking "just one more round!" and make for an exciting knitting experience. Still, the pattern is as easy to work as a repeated pattern – there aren't any really long floats to manage. And the special "knit by numbers" charts spare you the effort of counting stitches.

The socks are knitted top-down, starting with a simple ribbed cuff. After that, the colourwork pattern lets narcissus, muscari and tulip bloom on the leg while a tiny butterfly is fluttering above them. Heel flap and gusset as well as the foot are knitted in one colour in plain stockinette, except for a delicate colourwork detail on the toe. After having completed the knitting, you can highlight your favourite spring blossom by embroidering on it with duplicate stitch if you like.

Sizes

3 sizes, corresponding to shoe size EU 36/37 (38/39) 40/41

Recommended yarn:

Fingering-weight sock yarn in two colours (+ optional: very small quantity of fingering- or sport-weight yarn in a contrasting colour for the duplicate stitch embroidery), e.g. Pascuali Pinta

Yarn estimates:

• Colour 1 (cuff and leg): approx. 120 (130) 150 m / 130 (145) 165 yds
• Colour 2 (foot): approx. 210 (240) 260 m / 230 (260) 285 yds 

Needles and notions needed:

• DPNs (5 needles per set) OR circular needles with minimum length of 80 cm (32”) (if you prefer to knit socks with the Magic Loop method), sizes 2 mm (US 0) and 2.5 mm (US 1.5)
• stitch markers, tapestry needle

Gauge:

• Stockinette: 30 stitches x 45 rows = 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4” on 2 mm (US 0) needles in the round, blocked
• Colourwork: 31 stitches x 38 rows = 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4” on 2.5 mm (US 1.5) needles in the round, blocked

Level of difficulty:

advanced beginner to intermediate (not suitable for a first colourwork knit, but definitely easier than it looks: maximum float length is 7 stitches)

Techniques (explanation/tutorial included):

• stranded colourwork
• increases
• decreases
• duplicate stitch embroidery (optional)