The Hapax Socks are inspired by one-of-a-kind hand-dyed yarns. In literature, a “hapax legomenon” (Greek, meaning “said only once”) is a word that appears only once in an author’s body of work. For example, in Shakespeare’s plays, the words “questrist” (a person on a quest to find another person) and “facinorious” (extremely wicked) are hapaxes. Similarly, a OOAK skein of yarn is a special colourway that only appears once in a dyer’s repertoire. This pattern is designed to make those unique, one-time-only works of art shine!

Pattern Description

These toe-up socks have a horizontal-line texture pattern that does not compromise the stretch of the fabric. They feature a gusset and heel flap heel using German short rows and a 2x2-rib cuff that fits nicely into the texture patterning. The gussets are patterned continuously from the instep panel, and the texture is worked all the way around the leg. The design is symmetrical and therefore both socks are worked identically.

This pattern requires the knitter to be able to knit a small circumference in the round (the pattern is method-neutral to suit your preferred technique for socks). It clearly explains all techniques required and provides links to several useful video tutorials, so the pattern is easily accessible to an intermediate sock knitter. Corresponding written instructions are provided for the charts.

Yarn Requirements and Sizing

Sizes available: Adult Small (Medium, Large) for foot circumferences of 18 (20.5, 23) cm / 7 (8, 9) inches — 56 (64, 72) st — with fully-adjustable finished foot lengths and leg heights.

For average foot lengths and equal leg heights, approximately 300 (325, 350) m / 325 (350, 375) yards of fingering-weight yarn appropriate for socks is required.

This pattern works well with many different dye styles, especially semisolids, tonals, and non-pooling variegated/speckled colourways.

These socks are rated 3/5 — Intermediate — on my sock pattern difficulty scale. This is because they require a couple of uncommon stitches, and the gusset charts are wide.

This pattern is available on the knitCompanion app! You can get a version prepared specifically for kC compatibility here. #kcdesign