Knitting has been a custom on Tristan da Cunha for many years and Tristan ladies were always busy knitting socks, stockings, sweaters, pullovers and underwear such as men’s drawers and bodices. Throughout this time the language of socks was born and has held a special place in the island of Tristan da Cunha’s heritage. Although this tradition occurred many years ago, it is still remembered today and so socks have a special meaning on this small island.
In the old days the community of Tristan was rather shy and so were people of few words. Love and affection was often shown by gestures and one particular gesture was the knitting of socks, which held a special significance.
When a young man wanted to court a young lady he would visit the parents house bringing a small gift and sit with the family in the kitchen. The father would know this was a sign that the man had an interest in one of his daughters. The young lady in question would in turn knit a pair of socks for her young admirer, depending on the number of colours and stripes on the socks, the young man would know how fond she was of him. If the young man was happy with the message his socks showed, he would take this as a sign of the young lady’s affection and make her a pair of moccasins, which was always previously done by her father. The young lady would then offer to wash his clothes and this was a sign that they were formally engaged and a marriage would follow shortly.
It has been told that coloured imported wool bartered from passing ships was kept in most houses for the striping of socks. So in keeping with tradition, Love Socks are knitted from local island wool but are brightly coloured with stripes from imported wool, shipped all the way from South Africa. Although our ancestors did not put into words the meaning of each stripe and colour, we would like to distinguish our love socks as follows:
Fondness - 2 Large Stripes
Loyalty - 2 Large Stripes and 2 small stripes
Friends Forever - 2 Large Stripes and 3 small stripes
Great Affection - 2 Large Stripes and 4 small stripes
Head over Heels in Love - 2 Large Stripes and 5 small stripes
Will you be mine? - 2 Large Stripes and 6 small stripes
Love Socks include a pack with a Certificate of Authenticity, 37 Degrees South and Love Sock Tag.