I’m so pleased to introduce you to the Lucrezia socks today. They are such a simple, delightful knit that deliver a really lovely, and if I say so myself, sophisticated pair of socks.

Designed to be seen, rather than hidden, these lacy socks are also a great pattern for anyone looking to move on from basic stocking stitch sock knitting. The lace pattern is deceptively simple and it’s easy to get into a rhythm with the pattern so that it becomes intuitive to work.

This combination of a simple lace and twisted stitch pattern with the gorgeous Susan Crawford Bluem sock yarn with that classic Blue Faced Leicester lustre is just wonderful.

The idea for the pattern came last year when I was re-reading Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway which was celebrating 100 years since publication. I was also thinking about teaching sock knitting in the autumn and the two things came together. As I was enjoying spending time with wonderful writing and such a vibrant cast of characters, I began to wonder about the types of sock that would reflect their personalities.

On that premise I designed a couple of pairs of socks and discussed with Susan releasing them simultaneously on both our sites.

The Lucrezia socks are knitted from the top down and commence with an elegant twisted rib cuff which neatly travels into the all-over pattern for the leg and foot.

They start with a German Twisted Cast on, feature a standard heel and gusset, have 4 sizes, and foot and leg lengths that can be adjusted for a perfect fit, and are finished with a grafted toe. The pattern includes full instructions for the cast on and toe graft in a detailed techniques section.

The Lucrezia socks are available from my usual range of pattern sites:

Until the end of the moth the pattern comes with a 1€ discount if you use the coupon code Rezia at both Ravelry and Payhip. Unfortunately I can’t offer discounts at LoveCrafts.

You can also purchase the pattern at Susan Crawford Vintage where you can also purchase kits and try the Bluem sock yarn for yourself. There’s a wonderful range of colours hand dyed by Charlie at Assa Marra, Susan and Charlie’s studio in the English Lake District.

Pattern inspiration

The Lucrezia socks are named for the character of Lucrezia Warren Smith from Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway. Written 100 years ago and now regarded as a modernist classic, Mrs Dalloway was experimental in form and characterisation, notably in its exploration of the inner emotional worlds of its characters and has shaped the development of the novel as we know it today.

A hat maker in the family business in Milan she meets Septimus, when he is serving on the Italian front in the 1914-18 war. They fall in love, marry, and Lucrezia moves to London with Septimus full of hopes of building a family together in an exciting, glamorous, and beautiful city. 

Lucrezia is young, happy and frivolous, with artistic, competent hands creating the hats that make the woman. She sees beauty in the world around her and shares her excitement at it with Septimus, her brave decorated husband who had gone to war voluntarily, who was clever, and gentle and to whom she could speak about anything. 

However, post-war London does not meet her expectations and as her husband becomes increasingly unwell Lucrezia feels more and more at sea, hanging on to her hopes and her love for Septimus. The world becomes one in which her love for Septimus makes her solitary, but her determination to find help for Septimus never fails.

The Lucrezia socks combine the strong lines of twisted stitches reflecting Lucrezia’s will and determination with a simple lace pattern to reflect her love of beauty and ability to find it in the everyday world around her, even in the most challenging of times. 

When at the Echoes and Inspiration retreat Susan spoke about how she had included embroidered cross hatching in her ‘Clouds’ design as this was such a strong motif in the interior decorations at Charleston, including the Clouds fabric designed by Duncan Grant.

Once there I couldn’t help but notice how strongly the cross hatching and strong vertical lines on the painted on the uprights of this fireplace surround resembled the lace and twisted stitch pattern of the Lucrezia socks.

We did try to photograph the Lucrezia socks while we were at Charleston but attracted a great deal of attention, which was lovely, but few good photos unfortunately.

However, I do want to share a couple of those that we did get there with the wonderful Miranda modelling the socks on the mosaics in a seating area of the garden.

I spoke in my last post about Vanessa Bell’s use of mosaic and how there was an organic relationship between indoors and outdoors in her creative practice. This transfer of indoor ceramics into the structural elements of the garden is both an effective use of colour and form, and another example of the fluidity between the two. Moreover, it challenges expectations and assumptions of what belongs where. This challenge to the “natural order” of the time is one of the reasons, I think, for the enduring interest in, and influence of, the Bloomsbury group. In literary form it I think it’s why the work of Virginia Woolf generally, and Mrs Dalloway in particular, remains so resonant and feel so relevant.

I look forward to sharing more of this in the coming months with new pattern releases. I don’t want to give everything away just now so I’ll leave it here, but I do hope you like the Lucretia socks and learning bit about the background to their development.

Until next time, take care and happy knitting,

Tess xxx