These socks are inspired by the Agatha Christie novel The Mystery of the Blue Train, featuring Hercule Poirot. The story centers around a murder and jewel theft on ‘The Blue Train’, a famous train which took the wealthy from Paris to the French Riviera.

The socks are mirrored on the front with an off-center cabled pattern which runs down the outer leg. This pattern represents the train and tracks, with the sleeper compartments. On the back of the sock is a triple braid of cables, representing the ruby necklace stolen in the novel.

The pattern provides two options: beads or nupps. Along the front, there are two beads/nupps in each parallelogram ‘sleeper compartment’ and on the back of the sock, the beads act as the stolen jewels. If you don’t want beads on the foot of your sock, switch to nupps for a flatter sock top, although the top of the foot only has 4-6 beads.

E-book details
This pattern is part of an e-book series, The Agatha Christie Series, Volume 2 (The Poirot Collection). Follow along as I create designs inspired by Agatha Christie novels featuring Hercule Poirot.

Patterns will be delivered approximately every 6 weeks, between January 2014 and July 30, 2014. Your Ravelry library will automatically be updated with the new patterns.

Skills Needed: Must be familiar with sock construction and knitting in the round. Knit, purl, twisted stitches, working with beads or nupps and cables.
There are over a dozen different kinds of cables in this pattern (variations of 3 stitch cables, with different stitches in the cable being k-tbl, purled or knit.) Each cable by itself isn’t difficult, but you should be comfortable cabling to knit this pattern.

This pattern is available in both toe up and cuff down versions.

Materials

• SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock (80% superwash merino, 20% nylon; 425yd/388m per 4 oz/115g), in Oceanside color way. 1 skein. Substitute 400 yds/365m of fingering weight yarn.
• US #1.5 (2.5mm) needles for working in the round: DPNs, 1 long circular or 2 short circular, as you prefer, or size needles required to obtain gauge.
• Tapestry needle, stitch markers,
• Optional: 80 size 6/0 beads.