More on lace patterns that should work with self-striping yarns.

I went through my sock books, and also through my stitch guides, and compiled a short list. The code here is:

BW = Barbara Walker Treasury. (1, 2, or 3 indicated the number. 3 is the charted-stitch one).

Harmony = the Harmony guide to 440 More Knitting Stitches.

Unfortunately I cannot find pictures of these readily online, and I don't own a scanner to scan the "swatches" in the book (And also, I fear that might violate copyright). If you own the books you're welcome to look these up in the index. Some of the patterns are probably well-known to those who knit a lot of lace.

(I think I also have a Lark book of knitting stitches somewhere but I can't find it at the moment, and besides, I'm sure it will mostly overlap.)

CS = Charlene Schurch's "Sensational Knitted Socks." She lists three patterns specifically for these yarns.

First off: the patterns I know (or "remember having read somewhere") are Shetland or Shetland-derivatives.

1. Feather and fan (Socks^3 book, the Wendyknits pattern I linked to this morning)
a. Fan Shell (BW1)
b. "Ridged Feather" (CS)
c. Little Shell (Harmony)
d. Ostrich Plumes (BW2) (This one may not do the "ripple" thing but it is still a very pretty pattern and I do intend to draft up a pattern for socks using it sometime).

2. Horseshoe Pattern (BW1)
a. Horseshoe Print (Harmony)

3. Crest Of the Wave (BW1). I have knit this one up into socks and like it a lot.

4. Razor Shell (BW1) (Also available as the Mimknits pattern I linked to this morning)

Non-Shetland (or not specifically described as such)

5. Chevrons. There are many versions of these:
a. Chevron (CS)
b. Broadripple (Knitty)
c. Ripple Pattern (Not Just More Socks)
d. "Peaks N Valleys" (Knit Socks!)
e. Chevron and Feather (Harmony) This is a more "closed" pattern and may be a bit more "vertical" than some.

6. "Welt Fantastic" (CS)

7. Wave Pattern (Harmony)

8. Expanded Feather (BW1)

9. Arrowhead Lace and Little Arrowhead Lace (BW1) (Depending on how open you like your socks, these patterns may be too open)

10. Stripe with Twisted Bars (BW2)

Some that may work, but may too "vertical" in aspect for strongly-contrasting stripes:

11. Fan Lace (BW1)

12. Vine Lace (BW1, also exists as a pattern in Socks^3)

13. Sunray (BW2)

14. Fountain Lace (BW2)

A couple that are more involved, but are very pretty

15. Pearl-Barred Scallop (BW1) (This is not a simple "purl on return" lace pattern but it is pretty and it should do the undulating thing)

16. Mrs. Montague's Pattern (BW1). (This pattern may not do the undulating thing, but that does not matter to me: it is supposedly the pattern in which Queen Elizabeth I's stockings were knit and I like the thought of having a pair of socks knit in the same stitch pattern as Good Queen Bess.)


There's also a pattern - I think it's in BW1 - called "Cellular Lace" and I kind of like the pun-quality of it. I might make myself up a pair of "Cellular socks" (will they be prokaryotic or eukaryotic?) using that pattern.

This whole researching makes me want to play around with designing socks again. I think if I do, I will probably make the patterns available free here. I'm not sure I feel comfortable submitting my stuff places (like MagKnits or Knitty) because I'm not sure I could deal with the "thanks, but it doesn't fit the style of our magazine" which I would surely interpret as "your knitting sucks. Go away now."

I should also probably look into trying to get webspace to have sort of an online library of stuff I've designed to share with people. Or maybe re-activate the "pamphlet of patterns" idea where I will send out a self-published copy for a small fee.

It's not really something I have TIME to do, but it's an idea that appeals to me.