Knitting memories into socks, chapter 1: Barcelona

If you're a sock lover, I've got something special for you. My Barça Memories Socks pattern just released!

Here is the story behind the design, as a shout-out to my genius friends is in order! Last November, a few of us had the best time at the Barcelona Knits festival. My friend Anete came up with a brilliant idea to make something special out of it - why not knit matching socks using sock yarn we find at the festival?

I didn't have to be told twice, as that sounded like a drop-everything-and-cast-on-right-away project. I found my perfect colourway Misty at Feliz Y Punto stand, used the winding station at the festival and started working on the design right then and there.

I had been to Barcelona a few times before and loved it so much that I had seriously considered moving there a few years back. Creating a sock design that does this place justice was a little unnerving, but I picked out the things I really loved about it:

• The seaside became a wavy twisted-stitch cable,
• The friendly people and the fact that there I can be myself and feel good meant choosing one gorgeous colourway and letting it speak for itself,
• And that charm factor - that little something that you can't quite explain but that sets it apart from other places - got portrayed by my use of slip-stitches in the design.

The festival was a fantastic way to tap into creativity - connecting with like-minded and passionate knitters and filling up on those positive vibes. More travels and memory socks will be coming, that is for sure!

The design also uses my usual toe-up sock construction, but this time in just one colour, and offers a revised gusset and heel shaping to give them the best fit possible. Don't take my word for it; here is what one of our great testers, Donna had to say about it:

"Your gusset design, as far as I'm concerned, is genius, and I think the result is a much better-fitting sock. I actually have all of your sock patterns now just because of your gusset construction. The final fit was a little loose on me, but a very good fit. Overall I really enjoyed knitting this pattern and have some requests from family members for a pair of these socks."

As all of my sock designs have been toe-up, I have to justify my choice in favour of this superb construction. If you've been pondering whether to try it, check out my blog post, where I share six reasons for loving this sock style. Some of those can convince you to dip your toes into the toe-up world if you haven't already.

Treat yourself to 20% off when using code BARCA at the checkout on Ravelry or zaneteknits.com. Code is valid until 12th February 2023, 23.59 GMT.

And finally, stranded colourwork yoke sweaters are still strong in my pile of WIPs. One such project using sport-weight yarn just came to a close, and a test call is now on my blog.

Besides stranded colourwork, the sweater features a boat neck and a few bobbles, and the deadline is the 26th of March.

If that piqued your interest, head to the blog post to read more about how to register, and I hope to see you there. Thank you very much in advance!

Happy knitting,

Zanete