Beaufort socks

I received the pattern for the Beaufort socks and Fitzroy mitts for my birthday, along with the yarn to make one of them. They’re from Wild and Woolly based in London. The yarn is Frangipani Guernsey 5ply, a 100% British worsted wool, in colourway damson. It was a great project at that moment in time as we were about to move house, so I could keep the small box containing the yarn and pattern with my suitcase and always know I had a spare knitting project with me! I eventually started them in November after completing the Knitloop socks, on one of my trips away for work – these were a great small project to tuck into my bag.

The pattern is inspired by traditional fishermen’s ganseys (guernseys) using diamonds, cables and ropes. The name was chosen to honour Sir Francis Beaufort who completed the development of the Beaufort wind scale in 1805.

They’re an enjoyable knit, with enough stitch pattern to keep it interesting, but not so complicated you can’t watch TV at the same time. I really liked the toe up heel method on these – my previous experience of toe up heels hasn’t been great, as my heels are very narrow and angular, rather than rounded – but these worked a lot better for my heel shape.

First completed project of 2022 – these used up 248 metres of yarn.