Fleur de Lace Socks

Pattern Info

This project was designed by JackieES.
Info can be found at:
HeartStrings #S31 Fleur de Lace Socks (aka Louisiana Socks) »

Instructions

In tribute to the state of Louisiana and Mardi Gras celebration, the French fleur de lis is outlined in lace embellished with gold beads against a purple and green background.

Difficulty:

Category: Knitting

Type of item: Clothing

For: Women

Style: Traditional, Holiday, Classic

Materials

Crystal Palace Mini Mochi fingering weight wool yarn, color 103. Miyuki size 8/0 (3 mm diameter) seed breads, color 1053 Galvanized Gold.

What was your inspiration?

The fleur-de-lis is often associated with areas formerly settled by France, such as Louisiana. I named this sock design "Fleur de Lace" as a play on words.

What are you most proud of?

The French translation of fleur de lis is lily flower. The commonly occurring decorative and symbolic representations of the fleur-de-lis are stylized designs of either a lily or iris. Thus I chose a yarn colorway with purples and greens to suggest purple iris flowers and leaves.

With the addition of the gold beads to accentuate the top of the head, petals, and stamen of the loosely rendered flower amid the lace background, we now have the popular purple, green and gold colors of New Orleans Mardi Gras. The beads encircling the cuff of the sock represent the necklaces thrown to the party-going crowd by masked riders on festive Mardi Gras floats.

The trellis lace background suggests the ornamental ironwork of balconies and courtyard gates of stately Louisiana homes that are lovingly preserved as one of Louisiana's state treasures.

What advice would you give someone starting this project?

SIZING: women's small (medium, large)
YARN: 2 - 50g balls Crystal Palace Mini Mochi color 103 OR 400 yards fingering weight yarn of your choice
SUGGESTED NEEDLES: US 1 / 2.25 mm
BEADS: 412 (444, 476) size 8/0 (3 mm diameter) glass seed beads (approx 12 (13, 14) g, Miyuki color 1053 Galvanized Gold
GAUGE: 8 stitches per inch over stockinette stitch
STITCH INSTRUCTIONS: charted and written
SKILL LEVEL: intermediate
CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEW: knitted cuff to toe; beads are strung on yarn before knitting begins