Stella writes:

As you know, all of my patterns have been developed from something which we have needed and used in our family, or to give to some important friend, which is why I know that the designs and patterns that I produce are not only reliable, but they work and are highly wearable. 

One of the things that I have been making for years from a well-rehearsed and honed mental pattern are socks. The whole family love them! It started when one of the girls moved a long distance away from home to attend university - up to the “far North”, as I thought then, where the temperatures never rise above freezing a chilblains are bound to occur, even in Summer (the irony being that I now live even further North and it’s actually quite temperate!) - these socks came to represent a hug from Mum in a parcel and Amy never got chilblains throughout her whole time in the Arctic North, but the tradition was set and I now have a never-ending wish list of requirements from the family. 

Last weekend we had visitors staying over and as usual I filled the gaps between peeling vegetables and waiting for people to gather for dinner with a spot of sock knitting. My friend was very impressed, especially when she heard tales of the thrill of knowing the sock on the needles is destined for your next trip abroad (or similar) and the excitement of trying them on for the final fitting before toe shaping (we have a lot of fun in our family!). She asked for the pattern so that she can make some for her husband and that’s when I discovered the problem: I’d never thought before of writing the pattern down! 

When teaching another daughter to knit socks, I simply gave verbal instructions - they are much easier to work than you might think, and it’s all based on relative calculations and conceptualising what you are actually trying to achieve at any given point, dependant on where in the construction you have got to. 
And so I set down to write the pattern out for Claire. I have put a range of sizes on to make the pattern as useful as possible, and I have tried to make it clear where you are on the sock as you knit it and what you are trying to achieve by each step’s shaping. 

I generally knit the third and fifth sizes for myself and my husband (we’re UK size 5.5 and 9 respectively), but I must stress that it’s important to measure the sock on your foot before you work the shapings - make sure you like the length before you shape the heel and then try them on again before you do the toe shaping. 
We all love our socks and want you to share them with us. 
I hope you enjoy this pattern. 

(N.B. Any brand of sock weight yarn will work for this pattern.)