greenermakes

The Flowers and the Bees – Knitting pattern

€6,50 EUR

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Do you know which native wild plants insects love the most? And not just honeybees, but also the countless species of wild bees, hoverflies, butterflies, beetles and more, which are essential for biodiversity and thus for life on Earth as a whole? This sock pattern named The Flowers and the Bees invites you to explore your local plant and insect universe. Alongside the knitting instructions, it includes a small guide detailing which plant you are bringing to life depending on the blossom colour you choose—and, of course, which insects are attracted by these plants (mainly with regard to Central Europe though, but I am hoping to inspire you to dive into your local plant world as well if you are living in some other area of this planet).

These socks are knitted toe-up. The heel features a heel flap and gusset construction with an optional slipped stitch pattern. Then the actual fun begins: to create the leaves of our plants, you will use cables. The leaves are followed by blossoms which are made using a special colourwork technique: classic stranded colourwork is combined with knitting into stitches several rounds below. This section invites you to be creative. You will only need the tiniest quantities of a colour, so this is an ideal opportunity to showcase some very small scraps of your favourite yarns. The cuff features a contrast-colour detail.

Perhaps this pattern will inspire you to add some colourful native wildflowers to your garden—or those of your family and friends. Wild bees and other insects will definitely be grateful!

Sizes

4 sizes, recommended for shoe size EU (36/37; 38/39; 40/41; 42/43)

Recommended yarn:

Fingering weight sock yarn in one main colour and one (or more) contrast colour(s), e.g. Seehawer Naturfasern or Pascuali Pinta

Yarn estimates:

Main colour: approx. (300; 320; 350; 380) m / (330; 350; 380; 410) yds
Contrast colour(s): very small quantities (a couple of m/yds will suffice)

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) (if you prefer to knit with DPNs, I still recommend using long circular needles for Judy’s Magic Cast-on at the beginning)
stitch markers, cable needle, tapestry needle, crochet hook (optional)

Gauge:

Stockinette: 32 stitches x 42 rounds = 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4" on smaller needles, blocked
Leaf pattern and stranded colourwork: 32 stitches = 10 cm / 4", on larger needles, blocked (the number of rounds is not that relevant as the pattern sections are rather short)