Tana Socks
The Tana Socks are inspired by Furcifer lateralis, the Carpet Chameleon, a species of chameleon from Madagascar. “Tana” is the word for “chameleon” in the local Malagasy language. Like all chameleons, they are famous for their ability to change colour in intense patterns, and in general, chameleons are very unusual-looking creatures. These socks were designed to honour that fine line between bizarre and beautiful by encouraging a multicoloured yarn to pool in as many different ways as possible in a single sock.
These socks use both slipped stitches and short rows to really make a variegated yarn shine as the pooling patterns shift throughout the socks. They feature a gusset and heel flap short-row heel and a garter rib cuff for additional visual interest. Elongating the stitches to be slipped helps keep the socks stretchy and comfortable and provides more variation in the colour patterning.
This pattern requires the knitter to be able to knit a small circumference in the round (the pattern is method-neutral to suit your preferred technique for socks — double-pointed needles, magic loop/one circular needle, two circular needles, short circular needle, etc. — and it is possible to work two-at-a-time on the foot only) and clearly explains all techniques for increases, decreases, German short rows, and elongated stitches. Within the pattern you will find links to useful video tutorials as well, so the pattern is accessible to an intermediate sock knitter.
Variegated yarns with regular repeating colour sequences and self-striping yarns with narrow, irregular-width stripes offer the best results for this pattern.
Note that there are two files included with this pattern; one contains chart-based instructions and the other is fully written with no charts. Both produce the same final product.
