It is hard to believe, but it’s time to dive into the penultimate Boost Your Knitting project! Here are the Alcedo Socks, designed by knitter extraordinaire, Wendy D. Johnson. These deliciously textured socks will be teaching us how to work a gusset when knitting a toe-up sock!

Toe-up socks have a lot to recommend them — indeed, we’ve already knit some as part of Boost Your Knitting, the lovely Heartgyle Socks by Julia Farwell-Clay. Toe-up socks let you make the most of a special skein of yarn, as you can just knit until you run out! And you can easily try them on your foot as you go, which is handy if you aren’t sure how many stitches you’ll need for a good fit. Toe-up patterns — like the Heartgyle Socks and A Year of Techniques’s Hedera Helix Socks — frequently feature an afterthought heel, which typically doesn’t have a gusset.

Many people, though, prefer the fit of a sock with a gusset. So this month, Wendy D. Johnson will be showing us how it’s done with the Alcedo Socks! These socks really combine the best of both worlds — all the fun of a toe-up sock, with the flexible fit of a gusset … which is achieved without having to pick up any stitches (as you do when knitting a heel flap and gusset on a cuff-down sock).

Wendy’s design features a simple but irresistible all over texture, created with knits and purls, and is knit in Schoppel Admiral 6ply, a sportweight sock yarn — meaning they knit up faster than your average sock! The result is a cosy, cuddly socks which will see you through the dark days of winter.

We’re looking forward to a sock-tastic time over in the Boost Your Knitting January knitalong. Perhaps knitting a pair of socks is one of your New Year’s resolutions? If so, come join us — any pattern using the month’s featured technique is welcome! You can pick up your copy of Boost Your Knitting (print/eBook bundle or eBook only), snag one of our winter yarn kits, or pick out your favourite shade of Admiral 6ply all available in our online shop!

All images in this post are © Jesse Wild, our amazing photographer.