Find the Perfect Knitting Pattern Using Ravelry’s Advanced Search

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Growing up, Pretty in Pink was my favorite movie, so when my favorite indie yarn dyer, Gina at Global Backyard, released this colorway called Pretty in Pink, I was totally inspired to make something reminiscent of Andie’s infamous prom dress.

OK, looking back, this is not a dress that I would choose to wear to my prom, but, at the time, I freakin’ loved it! The lace panel with those pretty scalloped edges was the most memorable element for me, so I knew I wanted to do a lace pattern with a picot cuff. Enter Ravelry’s advanced search feature.

I hopped into the Ravelry Advanced Search and got to filtering! First, I selected fingering weight yarn and then set the category to socks. I like to knit cuff-down socks, so I went to the Attribute filters and narrowed my search to those tagged “top/cuff down” in the Sock Techniques section. Next, I found the filter for “picots” under Design Elements and clicked the ” lace ” box in Fabric Characteristics.

I decided to take it one step further and use the availability filters to select the patterns I could download on Ravelry so I could start knitting right away. (You can also filter to just free patterns in this section).

All this filtering took me from the 1.3 million knitting patterns cataloged in Ravelry to 76 candidates for my Pretty in Pink socks. Not bad! All I had to do was scroll through the photos until I spotted the one that felt the “Andiest.”

I landed on the pattern Catch of the Day by Pam Gordnier, which has a cool scalloped lace motif perfect for my ode to Andie.  What do you think?

Here are all the details on these Pretty in Pink socks!

yarn details

Pretty in Pink Merino Sock Yarn by Global Backyard
Fingering Weight
85% Superwash Extrafine Merino (19.5 micron), 15% Nylon
Handwash Cool and Dry Flat
100 g/437 yd skeins
Purchased in August, 2023

project details

pattern: “Catch of the Day” by Pam Gordnier (free pattern available to download on Ravelry)
size knit: One Size (CO 64)
needles: US size 1 (2.25 mm) nickel-plated fixed circular needles (32” length) – knitted with magic loop technique.
gauge: 8.5 stitches per inch (measured with my cheater gauge ruler!)
yarn used: 337 yards (77 grams)
finished size: Foot: 8.75” from back of heel to tip of toe; leg: 8.25” from top of cuff to bottom of heel flap
duration: March-August 2024