The Quasar Socks are inspired by quasars, which are extremely luminous quasi-stellar objects that emit massive amounts of energy. Quasars occur when a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy is surrounded by a gaseous accretion disc. Gas in the disc falling towards the black hole heats up and releases massive amounts of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light, radio waves, x-rays, and cosmic rays. Put some intensely-visible rays on your feet, too, with these fun socks!

This is the Round 1 pattern for Sock Madness 20! You can find chat, answers to questions, additional tips from me, and lots of FOs for this pattern in the Sock Madness Forever group forums!

Pattern Description

These toe-up socks feature contrast-colour single-strand intarsia patterning starting on the toe and continuing up the foot, into the gussets, and up the front of the leg. Patterning also begins on the heel flap to continue onto the back of the leg to match the front of the leg. They have a gusset and heel flap heel using German short rows for the turn and a twisted-rib cuff. Corresponding written instructions are provided for the charts. Accent beads (placed as you go with no pre-stringing required) are used in the colourwork on the instep and the front of the leg only.

The patterning is provided both as charts and as written instructions.

This pattern is written in a method-neutral manner to suit any sock-knitting technique, using either double-pointed or circular needles. However, when choosing a technique, note that there will be a large number of strands in play at once on this project, so choosing to work two-at-a-time may add additional difficulty.

Yarn Requirements and Sizing

Sizes available: Adult Small (Medium, Large), to fit foot circumferences of 18 (20.5, 23) cm / 7 (8, 9) inches with adjustable finished foot lengths.

Sizing Note: If you work at a different row gauge than the one listed above, the pattern’s predicted gusset and heel turn measurements will require adjusting to ensure you achieve your desired finished foot length. Refer to this article for assistance adjusting your planned number of foot pattern repeats to ensure you get the right fit based on your own individual row gauge (but don’t forget that there are competition minimums to keep in mind!).

The needle sizes provided above are only suggestions; be sure to use needles that work well for your individual tension and yarn choice. Smaller needles are only used for the cuff.

These socks require approximately 275 (300, 325) m / 300 (325, 350) yards of fingering weight yarn for the Main Colour. Each strand of Contrast Colour requires approximately 1 m/yard of length (up to 1.5 m/yard in the gusset area), and while foot lengths vary, you will need around 70-90 strands in total.

For average foot lengths and a similar leg height, these socks require up to 800 (900, 1000) size 8/0 seed beads. If you plan to make longer and/or taller socks, you will need (even) more beads. If you choose to make these socks without beads, watch your tension to ensure a comfortable fit (the beads help prevent the cable patterning from pulling too tightly).

This pattern is intended for a single, relatively solid Main Colour, plus many strands of Contrast Colour(s) that stand out clearly against it. Beads that work well with the Contrast Colour(s) are recommended.

These socks are rated 5/5 — Challenging — on my sock pattern difficulty scale. This is because they require beading, as well as an unusual colourwork technique with complex yarn management requirements, and the patterning is both detailed and variable by size.