Yggdrasil, The World Tree, is a charted pattern to knit a pair of stranded colour-work socks. I was inspired to design these, after discovering a really interesting web page about some tapestries discovered at Overhogdal in Sweden. They date from between 1040 and 1170 AD, and you can read the amazing story of their discovery here:
https://rotergeysir.net/yggdrasil-oeverhogdal-tapestries/link text
I thought that the beautiful geometric shape of the tree in the tapestries would lend itself to a sock pattern.

On the front of the leg, the tree stands on a flowery hillock, and the trunk flows down to root itself in the “earth “ of the foot. There is a rose shaped medallion on either side of the ankle, and I have adjusted the chart so that there is no visible jog where the beginning and ends of the rounds meet. I have tried to stay faithful to the tree as depicted on the tapestries so the bird on top is the same hook beaked type!

The sock features a sole gusset à la Cat Bordhi, and an integral heel flap that requires no picking up of stitches. It is my favourite construction for socks now, and if you’ve never tried it, I urge you to give it a go!

Choose two highly contrasting 4ply ( fingering weight) sock yarns. Approx 50g of each colour for each pair of socks.

Size is for an average uk ladies size 5, but this particular construction is quite stretchy, and length can be added by knitting extra rounds at the toe. Going up a size in needles will also make your sock roomier.

Some experience of knitting colour work socks is recommended, although tutorials for most of the techniques necessary to knit these socks are readily available on YouTube and knitting web pages.