Eleanora Socks

These socks are inspired by the socks found in the tomb of Eleanoro de Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de’Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. She was buried in 1562 after dying of the plague and her crimson silk socks are amazingly well preserved. (Images of the original socks can be seen here and here)

They were knee-high with turned down cuffs. The lozenge patterned cuffs on this adaptation are NOT turned down and the motifs have been reduced in number of stitches due to gauge differences.

Yarn Requirements: 100 gram ball of sock yarn. I used Opal (75% Superwash wool/25% polyamide) (425 meters) in color 1997-13. Please note, this is the German Opal sock yarn, as seen here, not Louet Gems Opal (which is a fine sport weight and too heavy)
Suggested Needles: US Size 1 (2.25mm) and US Size 0 (2.00mm) double points (sets of 5) or size needed to obtain gauge.
Gauge: 17 sts and 25 rows per 2 square inches in stockinette on US 1's and 19 sts per 2" on US 0's.
Finished Size: 6.5" from cuff to top of heel flap. 12" around upper cuff. 9" around foot. 9" from heel to toe.
Techniques Used: This pattern uses the following techniques: knit, purl, k2tog, k tbl, yo, placement and slipping of markers, slipped stitches, twisted stitches, p2tog, ssk, psso, and sl2-k1-p2sso (centered double decrease).

Other Notes:

• The motifs in this pattern are charted with text translations.
• Included are some links and interesting notes on the history of Eleanora and her stockings.
• This pattern is a downloadable .pdf file. You will need a pdf reader like Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. You can download Acrobat here for free.
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The cost for this patten is $6.00 USD. If you are in Utah, sales tax will be charged.