Sweet Valentine Sock in Progress

I love lace socks, but only if they're going to stay up. Just taking a lace stitch pattern and using it for the cuff doesn't work for me unless I can incorporate some mechanism to keep the sock snug to my leg.

The Sweet Valentine pattern from the Sock Journal has ribbing down the front and back to support the pretty lace hearts running down each side.

The way the pattern is written, one ribbing panel and one lace panel go on each needle. The stitches are redistributed on the needles when the lace pattern is completed and it's time to start the heel.

The blue plastic pin is my method of keeping track of what row of the pattern I'm on. The lace hearts are a fourteen row repeat. Each time I knit row 1, I slip the pin into a stitch over in the ribbing where the rows are easy to count. Usually I just know what row I'm on, but if needed, the pin makes it easy to figure out.

I'm terrible with mechanical row counters, never being able to remember if I've clicked them or not. This method of keeping track of rows is fool proof.

The pattern is written for sport weight yarn on 62 stitches. For the dainty feet in my family, 62 stitches works in sock weight yarn on US #1 needles.

The sock in the picture is being knit with Opal UNI-Solid 11, the lighter of the two UNI-Solid pinks.

The intended recipient is Granddaughter Kimmy, who asked that her next pair of hand knit socks be pink. The lacy heart pattern is going to be a surprise. Hope she likes it.