This pattern (along with most of my earlier work) was retired in the summer of 2022. However, it may be available for a few days once or twice a year. Read on for details!

In the summer of 2022, I realized that maintaining a back catalog of hundreds of patterns was kind of overwhelming. I couldn’t do it and still release new things. So I took my old patterns down so I could keep doing new work.

Since then, a handful of my favorites have come back, and lovely new things have come out. But the vast majority of the old patterns are retired and will no longer be generally available.

However, enough folks have asked about some old favorites that I’m planning to make many of the retired patterns available for a few days once or twice a year (most likely in late spring and then again in the fall around Thanksgiving).

• If you see the buy buttons on this page, you’ve caught it on one of the days it’s available, and you’re welcome to grab it!
• If you don’t see the buy buttons on this page, then it’s not currently available.
• If you want to hear when the retired patterns will be available, 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.