The Quaviver Socks are inspired by Phycodurus eques, the Leafy Seadragon. This relative of seahorses is found in the waters surrounding southern and western Australia. Its beautiful and unusual leafy projections are not fins and cannot propel the seadragon through the water; instead, they are camouflage to suit the rich undersea vegetation in their natural environment. Seadragons are largely solitary and it is the male seadragons who care for and carry the eggs until they are ready to hatch.

Pattern Description

These socks use alternating-width cables of long, elongated stitches to create a unique surface texture on top of the fabric, separated by columns of purl stitches. Those elongated stitches also highlight the subtle colour details we all love in handpainted yarns. The left and right socks are mirror images, and they have a rounded Chinstrap short-row heel and a twisted-rib cuff. All cables can be done without a cable needle. The instructions are method-neutral to suit your preferred sock-knitting technique, and all non-basic techniques are fully explained. Links to useful video tutorials are also provided, so the pattern is easily accessible to an intermediate sock knitter.

Both cuff-down and toe-up instructions are provided for this pattern.

Yarn Requirements and Sizing

Sizes available: Adult Small (Medium, Large) for foot circumferences of 18 (20.5, 23) cm / 7 (8, 9) inches with highly-adjustable finished foot lengths and leg heights in both the toe-up and cuff-down versions.

This pattern requires approximately 275 (300, 325) m / 300 (325, 350) yards of fingering-weight yarn appropriate for socks. This pattern is suitable for a wide variety of yarn colourways; however, a very busy yarn (such as a self-patterning yarn) may obscure the cable details.

These socks are rated 3/5 — Intermediate — on my sock pattern difficulty scale. This is because they require a couple of different cable stitches and they have a three-wedge short-row heel.

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