’Haagsche Hopje’ is a candy with the taste of coffee and caramel. It was invented by coincidence in the 19th century by baron Hopje (who lived in The Hague > ‘Haagsche’ means ‘from The Hague’) when he forgot to take his leftover coffee from the stove all night. When he found it the next morning, it was turned into a hard, tasty piece. With the help of a nearby bakery, the recipe of the Haagsche Hopje was written down in 1880. It became a very popular candy amongst the rich.
Because I live in The Hague, I used to send Haagsche Hopjes with my orders when I ran a webshop. While designing this sock, many people send me messages when they heard ‘my’ Haagsche Hopjes candy’s won’t be made anymore, since the demand (and therefore profit) became too low to keep making them.
To keep remembering this wonderful candy, I called these socks the Haagsche Hopjes socks. And also because - as if I was foreseeing the end of this candy - the baby cable reminded me of the shape of the Haagsche Hopjes.

Notes:

• This pattern is for a top-down baby cable sock (no cable needle needed), with a heel flap and gusset, knit using the magic loop method of knitting in the round.
• Pattern contains some helpful video links in both English (EN) and Dutch (NL).
• New to sock knitting and/or reading an English knitting pattern? Please check out my online knitting courses, where I teach you step-by-step how to navigate through an English pattern and how to knit top down socks (Dutch only): https://www.mirjammolenbeek.nl/cursussen/

Yarn:

• 100 grams (420 meters) of fingering weight sock yarn. The largest size will use up more yarn than the smaller sizes. 100 grams is enough yarn for knitting the socks in one colour in the largest size (size Large, European shoe size 49).
• to make the baby cable pattern stand out, tonal or lightly speckled yarns will work best. But of course, you can experiment with this and make your own choice!

Sample used:
Durable Soqs, 418 Caribbean Sea. 50 grams (210 meters), 75% wool, 25% nylon.

Needles:
2.25 mm (or size needed to obtain gauge), 80 or 100 cm circular needles.

Notions:

• 2 stitch markers (closed, matching your needle size)
• opening coloured stitch markers / progress keepers when you want to keep track of your rounds
• tapestry needle for weaving in your ends
• wool wash for washing & blocking
• sock blockers for blocking (optional)
• sock ruler (optional)

Gauge:
32 sts x 48 rnds in stockinette stitch (knit in the round, washed & blocked) = 10 cm

Sizes:
Pattern is written for: kids, (small, medium, large)
European shoe size: 27-32 (33-37, 38-42, 43-49)
Foot circumference: 16-19 (20-22 cm, 23-25, 26-28) cm