Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea Socks by Petra Lassen

What Is Being Made

Sweet Pea is a downloadable knitting pattern for a pair of socks designed by Petra Lassen. This project creates a classic sock with a decorative cuff featuring colorwork and textural patterning, suitable for everyday wear or gift-giving.

Knitting Techniques

The Sweet Pea socks are constructed using several key knitting techniques. The pattern employs magic loop technique for working in the round on a single long circular needle, though knitters have the flexibility to use alternative methods such as double-pointed needles or two circular needles if preferred. The design incorporates colorwork knitting with a contrast color introduction in the cuff section, allowing for visual interest and pattern complexity. Slip stitches are used strategically to create texture and pattern definition without adding bulk to the fabric.

Stitches Used

The Sweet Pea pattern utilizes fundamental sock knitting stitches including:

• Knit stitch (k) – the primary stitch forming the sock structure
• Purl stitch (p) – used in the cuff ribbing and textural sections
• Slip stitch (sl) – employed in the brick pattern to create visual texture and pattern floats

The cuff features a brick pattern created through the repetition of knit and slip stitch combinations, with purl rounds interspersed to add dimensional texture. The pattern includes chart references for those who prefer visual knitting instructions over written directions.

Materials and Specifications

Sweet Pea requires specific yarn and needle selections for proper fit and fabric characteristics. The main color yarn is Regia Tweed 4-fädig in cream (color 2), using one 50-gram skein. The contrast color yarn is Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball, also 50 grams, in the Papagei colorway, which provides multicolored visual interest to the cuff section. Knitters use US 2 (2.75 mm) needles, sized appropriately for the yarn weight to achieve proper gauge and sock fabric density. The pattern begins with a long tail cast on of 64 stitches, establishing a secure foundation for the sock leg.

Cuff Construction

The sock cuff begins with 64 cast-on stitches worked in the main color, followed by three purl rounds that create a subtle rolled edge detail. The contrast color is then introduced for the brick pattern section, which can be worked once for a standard cuff or repeated 1.5 to 2 times for those preferring a longer cuff. The brick pattern alternates between slip-stitch rounds in the contrast color and textural rounds in the main color, creating a reversible, visually appealing design element.