Red Smiddy

Good morning! That time of year is approaching when many of us like to spend time slouching around the house, enjoying our winter decorations, watching a few festive films, chowing down on tasty mince pies, and, just for a few days, putting our feet up.

Perhaps you’d like to treat your festive feet to a pair of jolly Red Smiddy socks?

These cosy, slouchy house socks are worked from cuff to toe . . .

. . . and feature deep ribbing, stranded colourwork and an afterthought heel. This type of heel works really well for stranded colourwork, but the construction that you’ll find used most frequently can be a little tricky when inserting the heel on an allover pattern such as this one, which has no plain rows.

So when knitting my Red Smiddys, I devised a nifty heel-insertion trick which makes this process much more straightforward. Knit a pair and see!

In fact, in the knitting, you’ll find, I think that these socks are generally plain sailing.

The motif is easily memorisable (you’ll have it down in a couple of repeats), and at this gauge, the socks work up really quickly. Just in time for you to pop them on and enjoy some full-on festive lounging.

As well as being fun and useful seasonal house socks, The Red Smiddys have been inspired by the industrial heritage of Wester Ross, and the fascinating story of Scotland’s first blast furnaces, which club members will learn about this weekend.

I chose to work with a motif which is suggestive of industry, modernity, and the simple moulded shapes of the pig-iron blocks that these first blast furnaces produced. Yet these pig-iron lines and corners do not feel remotely industrial on the needles, and I found the rhythms of this simple motif surprisingly knitterly, and somewhat addictive. These are a very satisfying pair of socks to knit, and I hope that you enjoy them.

Finally, a wee shout-out to Kendall, who kindly stepped into my modelling socks after I broke some bones in my left foot. Thank you, Kendall.

Wester Ross club members will shortly find the Red Smiddy sock pattern in their Ravelry libraries and inboxes and there are lovely Red Smiddy kits in the KDD shop.

Enjoy your Friday!