Jacquard Ankle Socks - Merino Wool - Yggdrasil (Adults 38-45)

Jacquard Ankle Socks - Merino Wool - Yggdrasil (Adults 38-45)*New! Snuggly Merino wool ankle socks for all seasons, knitted in patterns inspired by traditional Swedish motifs. Gorgeous fine merino sneaker socks made in Sweden by jbro Vantfabrik. Knit with reinforced heel & toe for extra strength, and dyed in subtle natural colours. Wonderfully comfortable for home, sports, work, or out and about. jbro Vantfabrik is dedicated to preserving and sharing Swedish knitting heritage. Each pair of beautiful jacquard

*New! Snuggly Merino wool ankle socks for all seasons, knitted in patterns inspired by traditional Swedish motifs.

Gorgeous fine merino sneaker socks made in Sweden by Öjbro Vantfabrik. Knit with reinforced heel & toe for extra strength, and dyed in subtle natural colours. Wonderfully comfortable for home, sports, work, or out and about.

Öjbro Vantfabrik is dedicated to preserving and sharing Swedish knitting heritage. Each pair of beautiful jacquard knit socks features a design drawn from traditional patterns and personal stories.

The Yggdrasil pattern is inspired by the Viking era Överhogdal tapestries with the world tree (Yggdrasil) and the bird who warned about Ragnarök. It is patterned and dyed in subtle natural colours. See below to read the Yggdrasil story.

*Buy a pair of adults' socks, get 20% off our Sock Darner's Kit. A wonderful gift for sock lovers, wool lovers and Zero Wasters everywhere!  Learn the age old art of darning your socks.

Colours: Yggdrasil Grey, Yggdrasil Blue

Sizes: EU 38/41, EU 42/45

About the fit: Öjbro socks are jacquard-knitted: this is stranded colourwork characterised by floats on the inside which carry the coloured yarns and create such intricate patterns. This means each pair gets its own little personality. It also changes the thickness of the sock, and affects the fit. Some socks fit a bit slimmer, others a bit more “hug-friendly.” Wondering about the fit? See below:

Fit advice:

• SLIM - fits like a gentle little foot hug. Patterns: Futhark, Lycksele
• MED - the sweet-spot fit for most feet. Patterns: Ekshärad, Fästfolk, Gotland, Kören, Yggdrasil
• GENEROUS - for those who like a bit of extra wiggle room for their toes. Patterns: Dalarna, Haga, Skaftö, Skogen.

How to put them on:
Because jacquard socks have floats on the inside, we recommend you put your socks on like your mum used to do for you when you were a child. Bunch them up to the toe, put your foot in place and then unravel the rest of the sock up your leg. Don’t try to just shove your whole foot in from the cuff as your toes might catch some of the floats!!

Brand: Öjbro Vantfabrik
Designed in: Sweden
Origin of Fibre: Italy
Country of manufacture: Sweden
Fabric structure: Knitted from Merino wool with Lycra, reinforced in toe and heel with Polyamide (80% Merino - mulesing free, 5% Lycra, 15% Polyamide)
100% biodegradable: No
Machine Washable: Yes (see our guide to washing wool)

Care: Handwash using a gentle wool shampoo recommended for best results. To machine wash, choose a cold wool cycle, skipping the spin cycle. Dry flat on a towel, gently reshaping while wet. Do not tumble dry. Wool feels comfortable and dry, even when you sweat. It can absorb a lot of moisture (up to 33% of its dry weight). Air between uses, wash only when required. 

The story of the Yggdrasil pattern: Designer Åse Öjbro, founder of Öjbro Vantfabrik, was inspired by Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and with her Yggdrasil pattern she tells the mythological story of the horses Sleipner and Rimfaxe, and the bird that heralds Ragnarök. When Ragnarök was over, Liv and Livtrånad went ashore and began the new life in Midgard.

In the words of Åse Öjbro, “I wanted to create a pattern that intertwines our history, from the Viking Age to Christianity, and express it in one cohesive image. Personally, I was touched by Helena Öberg's story of how she solved the task and finally obtained the little girl's doll blanket. It is amazing that Sweden has such culturally significant treasures."

The Överhogdal tapestries are one of Europe's oldest and most important cultural treasures, dating back to the transition period between pagan and Christian times. Since Paul Jonze's discovery of the tapestry in 1910, many scholars have undertaken the challenging task of interpreting the fabric and its narrative content. The tapestries have been compared to other surviving pictorial representations such as the Norse sagas of the gods, Christian symbolism, fertility rites, wedding journeys, and ancient sacrificial cults. Today, you can see the Överhogdal tapestries from the Viking Age at the Jamtli Museum in Östersund.

The story of how the tapestry ended up in the church's woodshed is fascinating in itself:

"The tapestry was not rolled up or hung, but lay just to the right, on the floor inside the door, crumpled like a rag among dusty moldings and other old interior fragments, old birch wood, wingless church angels, and various debris collected over the years in this shed. It is not known whether it had been in the shed for a long time.

"When Jonze found the tapestry, it was not complete, and a couple of fragments were missing. Helena Öberg from Jämtslöjd therefore traveled the following year to the village of Överhogdal to try to find the missing parts. She described her discoveries as follows: On December 3, 1911, in the afternoon, I arrived at the Överhogdal post office, where I met an old man who asked me what I was doing in the area. I jokingly replied that I was missing the missing piece of the tapestry. He then told me that if I came with him to his home, I would find a piece of the tapestry.

"It was dark and snowing heavily when I followed him to his home, so I don’t know exactly which direction the house was in or how far it was. When we entered the cottage, there was only a five-year-old girl. When the old man asked her where her doll's blanket was, she pointed to a cupboard and said, "There." Meanwhile, the child's mother, a woman of about 40 years old, entered. She took the doll blanket out of the cupboard, and it was found to be the missing piece. The child did not want to part with the doll blanket and began to cry. I gave her two crowns and promised her a new doll blanket, a promise I later fulfilled..."

(Source: The script of "The Överhogdal Weaves," compiled by Ulla Oscarsson.)