This pattern is for a pair of traditional Turkish style socks. These socks are knitted in the round, toe-up.

This pattern takes its inspiration from Simply Socks by Anna Zilboorg. This pattern uses some traditional two colour patterns from Turkey documented in Zilboorg’s book along with some adapted patterns.

These socks can be knit in two or more colours. Certain areas of the socks lend themselves to three colour stranding, however, this leads to a much less stretchy sock and a generally more troublesome knit.

These socks are great knit using the magic loop method, and this allows you to knit both socks at the same time. This can be a good way of creating a consistent pair of socks and avoiding second sock syndrome.

Traditionally in Turkey, these socks were knit with the wool produced for rug weaving that was not good enough to weave with. This leads to the traditional look of these socks which echo the colour palette and patterns of the traditional rugs. These socks were often knit with strong course single ply wool in a weight similar to an Aran or worsted weight yarn. This leads to very firm socks with dense stitches. For this pattern, I recommend DK or even sock weight, as it leads to a more flexible slightly comfier sock.

These socks were traditionally knitted using the Turkish style of knitting where the yarn was tensioned around the neck similar to the Portuguese style of knitting. This is a very good technique for stranding multiple colours, but it isn’t necessary to knit in this style.

The traditional colours for this type of sock were strong reds, orange, greens, deep blues and browns.