design by Gryphon Corpus

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 then four year old daughter picked up the word and now, whenever she wants to get my attention, she says, "Hwaet, Mommy, hwaet!")

Please note: purchase of this pattern allows multiple downloads for your convenience. These downloads are for your personal use only, not to share. If you know someone who also wants the pattern, please direct them to make their own purchase. Thank you!

Finished Sizes

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

Yarn

The sample was worked in Sanguine Gryphon ‘Little Traveller’, 4 oz/ 560 yd, 100% superwash merino, 1 skein MC (shown in Southside of Chicago), 1 skein CC (shown in Davy Jones’ Locker). As this yarn has been discontinued, we recommend using The Verdant Gryphon 'Eidos'.

Needles

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

Gauge

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