Hwaet! Listen! Thus begins the immortal tale of the hero Beowulf, the bard summoning the attention of his audience. And so begin these socks, which give the text of the first page of the surviving manuscript, a copy dating to around 1000 CE. The writing flows from one sock to the other, so that you may read it uninterrupted. Wondering what it sounds like? Check out Benjamin Bagby’s amazing performance. (On a goofy side note, while I was working on these socks my four year old daughter picked up the word and now, whenever she wants to get my attention, she says, “Hwaet, Mommy, hwaet!”)

Later note: It has come to my attention that Mr. Bagby, for whom I knit a pair of these socks, when asked about the knitter, hints that I may be a supernatural emanation from the Beowulf manuscript itself. It may be the highest honour I have ever been accorded.

Finished Sizes
8 (8.6, 9.3, 10)”/20.3 (22, 23.7, 25.4) cm foot circumference

Yarn
Sample is shown in The Sanguine Gryphon ‘Little Traveller’, but as this yarn is no longer available I recommend The Verdant Gryphon ‘Eidos’: 4 oz/ 420 yd, 100% superwash merino, 1 skein MC, 1 skein CC.

Needles
US 1/2.5 mm, or size needed to obtain gauge

Gauge
35 sts and 47 rows = 4”/10 cm in stranded colourwork

Notions
2 Stitch markers