This was the second pattern (round #2) for Sock Madness 7, a speed knitting contest. (See the Sock Madness Forever group for more information.)

In “The Flying Dutchman” (Der fliegende Holländer) - an opera with music and libretto by Richard Wagner - the captain of a ghostly ship is cursed to wander the seas forever without rest. Only once every 7 years he is cast on shore to seek for the love of a faithful woman, which can redeem him. On such an occasion, he meets Daland the shipmaster, who promises him the hand of his daughter Senta in marriage. When they meet, Senta and the ghost captain know immediately that they are meant for each other. But then the stranger declares that he is the “Flying Dutchman” and tells Senta of the curse. As he sets sail to spare the girl his fate, Senta throws herself into the sea, claiming that she will be faithful to him unto death. Thus the Dutchman has finally found salvation, his spectral ship disappears and he and Senta are seen ascending to heaven.
(The “Cape of Storms”, South Africa, is supposed to be the place where the Flying Dutchman went down. See the spectacular landscape and the story in the photos by courtesy of Carle )

The pattern motif is hidden in the stripes of the sock, but if you look closely, you can see it – the faint, ghostly apparition of a ship.

The pattern was seen on a sweater and has been adapted for the smaller frame of these socks.