The inspiration for this ebook are four members of the 27 club, many of the members of this group have touched my life, albeit in different ways, and I wanted to explore the impact of art and popular culture through a series of socks that loosely play off the artists and musicians, but more importantly the lasting impact that has transcended their work.

Kurt Cobain

I choose Kurt Cobain, because his legacy was one that touched my life from a very young age. When I was in high school and university, I can remember huge posters of the Nirvana front man all over my cousin’s bedroom, it was this moment that piqued my interest, and the desire to understand more about his life and what he brought to the world.

The sock was inspired by a sweater that he wore during his MTV Unplugged concert. The reason I choose the sweater as a source of inspiration, is because I feel its history and subsequent fame centralized the importance of clothing, choices, and the cultural impact these can have. This 60-year-old sweater, made of mohair, acrylic and Lycra became the worlds most expensive cardigan because of the history associated with it. Due to the popularity of the grunge movement of the time, that centralized the idea of the “found object” that was a theme prevalent in contemporary art and implied that Cobain was known to shop and wear second-hand clothing. For me, the history of this sweater spoke to me as a knitter and designer, and allowed me to see that what we make with our hands, is not simply an item of clothing, but an item that is imbued with memories, ideas and emotion – that every item we make, can potentially make a difference, to the environment, to the people we make them for and even to history itself. Clothing is more than just the cloth, the yarn it is made of it is a statement about what we value, it’s an embodiment of the society we live in and the emotion and care that we imbue within it.

Ebook Information
There are 4 patterns in the ebook, and the intended release dates for the patterns are as follows:

1. Unplugged Cable socks - 4th May
2. Painted Textures - 1st June
3. Electric Rib - 29th June
4. Contralto socks - 27th July

Materials:
• One 2.25mm / US size 1 circular needle 100cm / 40” in length for magic loop or set of DPNs, or size needed to meet the required gauge.
• Stitch markers (2), one of which is used to mark the beginning of round.
• Tapestry needle for sewing in threads.
• 1 cable needle, optional.
• Blocking materials.
• Fingering weight (sock weight) yarn, exact yardage may vary and is dependent on size and foot length. A 100g skein of sock yarn of the main colour along with one 20g mini skein of sock yarn in the contrast colour should be suitable for most adult sizes. Sample is shown in cowgirlblues Proper Sock 75% Superwash Merino Wool, 25% Nylon, 366m / 400yds per 100g in colourway Sage for the main colour and Olive for contrast colour.

Size:
1 (2, 3): The socks are 19cm (22cm, 24cm) / 7.5” (8.5”, 9.5”) in circumference. Socks are intended to fit with approximately 2.5cm – 4.5cm / 1” – 1.75” negative ease. Sample shown in size 1.

Gauge:
33 stitches and 48 rounds = 10cm / 4” in textured pattern, worked in the round and blocked.