I caught the Mer-May fever again this year. Instead of just drooling over mermaid art on Instagram, I used my carpal tunnel induced downtime to design some super sweet mermaid socks for myself! They were a blast to knit, but they do come with a warning: No matter how great you think it would be to get drunk and sing sea shanties while you knit them, don’t. Oh, boy did that mess up tension. For the most part it blocked out, but you know… it was a wild anxiety-filled ride I’d rather avoid in the future.

In an undersea cavern, through mazes of coral with jellyfish and bioluminescent flora as your light, lies a vast settlement of merfolk containing untold wonders. Beware the mermaid warriors who guard it.

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About the Pattern

The Mermaid Warrior Socks are worked in the round from the cuff down with stranded knitting, using either long circular needles to work in Magic Loop or DPNs. The leg pattern begins off-centered on the back of the leg with decreases worked into the pinstriping to account for the tall leg. Instructions are included to move the beginning of the round later in the pattern. This sock pattern is recommended for knitters who have experience with stranded colorwork, knitting in the round, and reading charts.

As a bonus, instructions for a functional gauge swatch in the form of a coffee cozy are included in the pattern!

Recommended Yarn: Two skeins of Lattes & Llamas Vacation Yarn (100 grams/ 463 yards) or a comparable fingering weight yarn in two contrasting colorways. Sample size 1 is shown in “Deeper Water” as MC and “Ouroboros” as CC.

• MC: 50(60, 70) grams/ 232(278, 325) yards
• CC: 60(70, 80) grams/ 278(325, 370) yards

Note that yardage is estimated and may vary depending on yarn used, gauge variations, or modifications.

Needles: US1 / 2.25 mm and US2 / 2.75 mm to work in Magic Loop or size needed to obtain gauge.

I prefer the Magic Loop method when knitting socks. If you are more comfortable using DPNs or two circulars, this pattern is easily converted.

Sizing: Size 1(2, 3) has an 8(9, 10) inch foot circumference.

As with many colorwork socks, these were designed with little to no ease. Choose the size closest to your actual foot measurement.

Knitting my colorwork swatches as coffee up cozies is my favorite way to test out colorwork gauge in the round. I have them shoved everywhere. In my purse. In the center console of my car. It makes my to-go coffees feel 80 percent fancier. ⁠Mermaid Warrior is the first pattern where I included directions for you to knit a functional gauge swatch as well. I hope you enjoy it!

~ Jac

Happy birthday (a few days early), Megan-Anne!