Draig Clymwaith Socks

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(Draig-dan Socks, Dragain Mara Socks and Dragain Ceangailte Socks and Draig Clymwaith Socks)

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The fourth of my Celtic Dragon sock designs, Draig Clymwaith means “knotwork dragon” in Welsh. The first two designs in this series contained dragons and knotwork in separate sections of the design. For the third design (Dragain Ceangailte) the dragons were joined together and emerged from the knotwork. For this next design I wanted to see if I could start with a knot for his body and create a dragon that was still a very recognisable dragon. After many hours of playing with it I was happy with him, and I flipped the original knot 90 degrees and used it for the pattern down the front of the foot so you can see what the dragon’s body started as.

Method: These stranded colorwork socks are knit in the round. They are worked from the cuff down with twisted cable ribbing, a round heel and a heel flap. The colorwork is charted to minimize pattern jog.

These socks can be knitted on dpns, by magic loop, or on a short circular (in which case you will still need dpns for the heel and toe decreases).

Please note the colorwork design in this pattern is charted not written out. You need to be prepared to read and work from charts in order to enjoy knitting this design.

Size: This pattern is written in 4 sizes. All instructions that differ depending on the size you are knitting are indicated with parentheses and color coded like this: S (M, L, and XL).

Size Sock Circumference Approx.UK Sizes

S 7” 18 cm Children’s 13-4, Ladies 1-4

M 8” 20.5 cm Ladies 5-8

L 9” 23 cm Men’s 8.5-10.5

XL 10” 25.5cm Men’s 11-13

Yarn: You will need at least two contrasting colors of any 4 ply (fingering) sock yarn that you like and with which you can get tension/ gauge.

Please note I do not recommend using yarns with a high cotton content as cotton doesn’t stretch as much as other fibers and this will affect the fit of your socks.

The charted pattern in this sock works well with a solid and a long gradient yarn (as in the pair pictured), but don’t be afraid to experiment! I have found that the colorwork pattern doesn’t show up so well with highly variegated or yarns with very short color changes but solid colors or self striping yarns, mini skeins or leftovers could look great too, and you can easily add a third color for contrasting cuff, heels, and toes if you wish.

Be creative, have fun, but keep in mind changes will affect yardage and number of ends to weave in. The amounts of each color required will depend on how many colors you pick, where you choose to use them in the sock, and which size you are knitting. As a guide for the pair pictured (size M) I used the following:

MC – Schoppel Wolle Admiral in 6601 Martian Green approx. 240 metres (262 yards)

CC – Schoppel Wolle Zauberball in 2203 Oktoberfest approx. 130 metres (142 yards)

Gauge: 9 stitches and 10 rows per inch over colorwork pattern.

Needles: 3mm dpns

2.5mm dpns / short circular or size needed for gauge.

Other Materials Required:

2 Stitch Markers

Tape Measure

Scissors

Darning needle to sew in ends.