My Fairy Maiden Socks – An Intricate Cable Knitted Sock Project

I’m using the merino silk Rosehip Island yarn in a new sock project. The Fairy Maiden sock pattern is by Olivia Villarreal (@thishandmadelife).

I loved the look of the cables. Such a pretty sock design!

Fairy Maiden Socks is free at Olivia’s Ravelry store. I’m grateful for designers who offer free patterns. It’s extremely generous of them.

Olivia is a prolific sock designer. All her patterns are delightful. You can see her sock patterns in her Etsy Store.

I checked with Hanna at Rosehip Island whether she had made socks with this yarn. She had, but said it’s not as elastic as other yarn.

I struggled to get this project underway. I lost count of the number of times I ripped back!

Doing cables without a cable needle is difficult!

I also kept splitting the yarn as I bumbled along. Because of the attempts and ripping out, the yarn became fuzzy.

I didn’t have other yarn to practice on.

It took a long time to find my rhythm with the chart pattern.

I eventually got to the gusset!

I’d worked similar cable stitches without a cable needle in my Smaug Socks project but I couldn’t remember how.

I looked for tutorials by knitting experts and found one. The video tutorial by Rachel Gibbs showed the steps. I knitted all my stitches when doing the left and right 1×1 cable.

I’m confident the second sock won’t have any hassles. Fingers crossed. After the gusset decreases I finished the rest of the sock without too much bother.

I’ll continue update this post with my progress! It’s been challenging but a fascinating way to expand my skills on my knitting journey.

Fortunately the second sock went smoothly and I finished it in less time.

I tried something different when knitting the foot on the second sock. I left the stitches on the needles in the same arrangement as I used for the gusset .

This was somehow easier to knit.

It wasn’t until I reached the toe section that I arranged all the instep stitches on one needle and the bottom of the foot stitches on the other needle.

The toe was closed with Kitchener stitch. I feel more confident with doing this technique. I still use a video tutorial from Purl Soho to get me started. I’ve now managed to memorize the steps.

I’ve worn these socks with joy in my heart and a spring in my step! They feel beautiful on my skin and are so soft.

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