My partner in writing (and life, and pretty much everything), Claire, and I wrote a play called Spycraft, set in WWII, about a woman who spies for the Allies in occupied France and uses knitting to code secret messages into everyday garments to outwit the Nazis. This sock is my effort to mimic the steganography our heroine used—that is, the hiding of information in plain sight. The goal was to knit something that at first glance appears to be just harmless embellishment…but if you know what to look for, there is a message to be deciphered. The message I used is integral to one of the themes of our play, but you can feel free to adapt the pattern to secretly convey anything you like. Included you will find a chart for Morse Code, along with some blank charts on which you can compose your own message. Have fun!

Because of the coded nature of the sock, this pattern is designed with 72 stitch rounds in the leg and foot. But if you’d like to change the coding, you can feel free to play with the number of stitches in the round as well. I’d love to see what you come up with!

Needles: 2.5 mm (US 1.5) Double Pointed needles (DPNs) or size required to achieve gauge.

For the two-color coded sock, I used almost a whole skein of Topsy fingering weight Natural, and about a third of a skein of Topsy fingering weight Brown Heather. The Purl Stitch Spycraft Sock will take one skein of Topsy Fingering weight in whatever color you choose.