The Ferox socks are inspired by Odontapsis ferox, the Smalltooth Sand Tiger Shark, which lives in the deep ocean all around the world. Although the large creature sports striking teeth, the Ferox is actually docile and harmless to people. Like the shark, these socks look intimidating but are actually a calm, laid-back project.

The slipped-stitch motif was designed with highly random variegated yarns in mind, especially those with a speckled effect. Elongating the stitches and working them in different rows draws out small color details in hand-dyed skeins that might not otherwise get highlighted in a finished project. These socks are knit toe-up, and they feature a gusset and heel flap short-row heel using German short rows. This pattern is both charted and written out.

These socks are rated 4/5 — Adventurous — on my sock pattern difficulty scale. This is because they require some unusual stitches and combine instep charts with patterned gusset increases.

This pattern was originally published in the Knit Picks book Outrageous Insteps.