Are there buy buttons on the side of the page? If so, you've caught this pattern on one of the handful of days every year when it's available! If not, read on for details of where it went and what to do if you want to be notified the next time it's available.

A few years ago I got overwhelmed by my back catalog, retired most of my earlier work, and launched Tiny Nonsense. That gave me space to make Cool New Stuff! But some people missed the earlier things, so I make many of the retired patterns available for a few days once or twice a year.

• If you see the buy buttons on this page, you’ve caught it on one of the days it’s available! You can buy it just like usual.

• If you don’t see the buy buttons on this page, then it’s not currently available. It will probably be available the week after Thanksgiving and for a few days in June or July.

• If you want to hear when the retired patterns come back, subscribe to the mailing list or patreon, or keep an eye on my instagram.

Updated and expanded, this delightful new edition of Silk Road Socks features sixteen intricate patterns inspired by oriental rugs.

All fourteen of the original patterns are here, each revised to fit my current style and with extra sizes added (that includes sizing them all for both fingering weight yarn and dk/sport weight yarn). There are also two brand new patterns available here for the first time ever. And of course along the way I’ve upgraded all the fun bits (new photos, new charts, beautiful illustrations…all the things that help make a book lovely)!

Every paper copy of the book includes a unique code (look inside the back cover) that allows you to download a copy of the electronic book. You’ll be able to store the electronic version in your ravelry library if you like (though a ravelry membership isn’t required to access the electronic version).

Kazak is one of the trickier names to explain. There is a town called Kazak (or Gazakh) in the northwestern corner of Azerbaijan. But, other than in old books about rugs, that’s not the name of a group of people in the area. Some have suggested that the term is a corruption of Cossack, while others think it comes from the name of the town. In any case, Kazak rugs are made by Armenians, Azeri Turks, Georgians, and Kurds living in the area between Tbilisi and Erivan. The city of Kazak is more or less is in the middle of this region, so it is a convenient marker on the map for these rugs.

Kazak rugs are usually made with wool dyed in bright colors with red and blue being most common. They use large-scale, geometric motifs with strong, angular lines. This sock uses the deep blue common to the region and strips the characteristic angular lines to their most basic form.