Juhani & Liisi
Can you believe it's only two months to Christmas? This year I was once again invited to design something for the special Christmas issue of TAITO magazine. Last year it was colorwork, this year I wanted to do cables.
Juhani and Liisi are a pair of cabled socks inspired by an old Finnish Christmas carol composed in 1911. In the lyrics penned by poetess Immi Hellén (1861–1937), brother Juhani and sister Liisi are woken up at 5 am on a Christmas Eve morning for a sleigh ride to the church. It's a frosty morning and the kids need to dress up warmly. What better to put on your feet than a pair of cozy cabled socks.
Liisi’s socks are the more challenging of the two patterns. An intricate vine-and-bobbles cable runs from the toe up to the cuff. The central cable is flanked by two narrower ones on the sides.
These socks come in both mid-calf and knee-high length. For the longer version, calf shaping is hidden inside a wide garter-stitch panel on the back of the leg. The knee-high socks are finished in a long, fold-over cuff made in twisted ribbing. You can also make the socks shorter and leave out the calf shaping.
Juhani’s socks are a simplified version of her sister’s: the same garter stitch and cables pattern that's on the back of Liisi's socks is the central feature in these elegantly modest unisex socks. Juhani's socks come in a mid-calf length. Their understated simplicity makes them a great gift knit for teens, women, and men alike.
Both socks are worked in a warm DK-weight sock yarn. I used a relative newcomer, rustic hand-dyed Jalovilla Pässi (85% wool, 15% nylon, 230 m/100 g, 252 yd/3.53 oz), in a light gray for Juhani's socks and an impossible-to-photograph dark red for Liisi's.
Both socks also come in three sizes: 46, 50, and 54 sts to fit shoe sizes EU 38/39, 40/41, and 43/44] (US 6½–7½, 8–8½, 10–11). The socks are knit from the toe up with a reinforced heel flap and twisted ribbing on the cuff.
Juhani and Liisi appear in print in the TAITO Christmas 2020 issue. The patterns will be available as individual downloads in my Ravelry and Payhip stores in February 2021.
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