There was a notorious highwayman who attacked and robbed travellers in the early 18th Century on the old packhorse routes between Tideswell and Bakewell in Derbyshire. He was known as Black Harry.
The socks feature a simple horseshoe cable pattern down the front for the highway man’s chosen mode of transport. However horseshoes on these socks are upside down, which is considered very unlucky but as these are Black Harry’s socks they reflect the fact that the highwayman’s luck ran out and he was captured and hauled away to face the hash justice of the time. He was hanged and gibbeted on the Gallows Tree at nearby Wardlow Mires.
You wont come across any highwaymen in the Peak District now but you can find a lovely yarn shop in Tideswell that is well worth jumping off your pack pony for and nipping into for a spot of yarn therapy. It is where I got my lovely rustic black yarn from for this project.
The pattern has been updated to include two sizes: medium for 8” foot circumference and large for 9” foot circumference.
The pattern was written as I knitted the pair of socks for my sister but has not been tested by anyone else. Please let me know if there are any errors.