After each hiatus from blogging I keep thinking I need a big or surprising reveal to get back into posting. This feeling often keeps me from writing, second guessing what would be exciting enough to start with. However, I need to ditch those thoughts that keep holding me back and just write.

In fact, I do have exciting news to share, at least exciting to me. As of this January, I am a registered entrepreneur in Finland! In 2019, I was enrolled in a government provided Finnish Language program so design work wasn’t my first priority. While my Finnish improved slightly, this program really helped me realized that I desperately wanted to get back to knitwear design. Even though operating a business can be frustrating, I missed being a freelance designer and having opportunities to collaborate with companies and create. I’ve already gotten a few new grey hairs while navigating the new-to-me Finnish tax system but I’m happier and excited about connecting with knitters again and releasing new designs.

So for my first blog post, now that I am officially back in business, I thought I would share my first pattern released as a Helsinki based entrepreneur. I think it was October of 2018 when Laine first approached me about collaborating on a sock publication. I was in, instantly. My own collection of sock designs has been slowly growing and I also love seeing knitwear magazines grow and expand into book publishing.

In July of 2018, I had ventured to Jyväskylä Knit Fest for the first time. I had some inspiration stored up from the trip and was ready to translate that into a design. While in Jyväskylä, I stayed at an Airbnb for the weekend. It turned out the apartment building was originally design my Finland’s renowned architect, Alvar Aalto. The unassuming hallways were filled with inspiration. The simple lines and the geometric shapes created within the space, caught my attention. Lots of natural materials can be seen, concert floors, stone stairway and wood beams. I wanted to capture these vertical wooden beams where they meet the staircase. I thought it would be fitting to use inspiration from Finland, for this Finnish publication.

Most of the time socks are knitted in the round, making them great porjects for colour work, usually created through stranded knitting. This is when you switch back and forth between two colours of yarn in one round to create a pattern or imagery. All the floats are hidden on the wrong side of the fabric which is a bonus but this also creates a thicker fabric.

Alvar is knit toe-up and to achieve these stripes, I decided to create them with Intarsia, instead of stranded knitting. With Intarsia, each stripe is created with a separare length of yarn, only added in with needed. The long lengths of yarn get sucked up quickly into the sock as it grows. There i no need to carry the second colour of yarn in-behind and no floats. The shorter horizontal lines are embroidered afterwords with a few chain stitches.

Two colours are needed for Alvar. I use Uschitita’s Merino Sock, in the colour Owl, for the body of sock. The Uncommon Thread’s Tough Sock, in the colour Charred, makes up the stripes. Only 15-20g of yarn is required for the stripes, making this a great amount to find in your stash or use a mini skein for.

52 Weeks of Socks came out on February 14th of last month. I had no idea that Laine’s sock project would end up being such an enormous endeavour for them. Alvar can be found amongst the 253 pages filled with patterns and photos. 253 PAGES! That’s correct, their newest book is a beast but a beautiful one. This title, 52 Weeks of Socks, probably gives it away that there are 52 designs inside. It really is an encyclopedia. 52 Weeks of Socks can be found through Laine’s online shop or perhaps at your local yarn shop. Or, if you’d prefer the Finnish version, 52 x villasukat, is also available. They have also put together a lovely overview of all the patterns. You can see the entire collection and read about the inspiration behind each design here.

A big thank you goes out to the Laine team for including me in this massive collaboration. Every time I send off a design to them I have to do a double take when I finally see it in print. They always make it looks better than I remember. Another thank you goes out to the dedicated group of test knitters who helped me finalize this pattern. Here are a few of their finished projects but more can be seen on Alvar’s Ravelry page.