Special Socks (1)

I know, it's been a while - sorry. There was a reason which will feature here eventually. Meanwhile here are some pictures of a very special sock.

side view

front

back

Aha, I hear you ask, apart from looking too faffy for anyone sensible to undertake. especially on an item that most people never see even when you are wearing it, what is special about this sock? 

I'm glad you asked. It's a sample. Since someone on Facebook was confused about what a sample knit  was, and why anyone would want one, it's an item knitted up in a dyer's yarn that they can take to shows, and photograph for their social media accounts/website, to show off what can be done with their yarn and what it looks like when it's knitted up. (or crocheted).

Helen, the dyer of  Giddy Yarns recently set up  a list of people willing to knit sample items for her, and I joined it. It's not something I would have done until quite recently because I never think my knitting is of a high enough standard to do that sort of thing, but she wanted people who would knit socks, and honestly if I can't knit an up-to-standard sock by now I should give up knitting them altogether. So I stepped forward and when she sent out a list of patterns she wanted sampling I chose three I thought I could do, and of the three she asked me to do this one. 

For the record, the pattern is called Frodo, it's from a collection of nine sock patterns called The Fellowship of the Socks and I have been half intending to knit them all 'one day' for myself anyway. So this seemed like a good opportunity to test one of them out. 

I said I would do Frodo because it was a cable pattern and as we all know I think of myself as a cable, rather than a lace, knitter. Imagine my surprise/horror when the pattern arrived and not only did it have some nice complex cabling up the front but a lace panel on the back. In the event I quite liked the effect of the lace panel and it wasn't too complicated but I certainly hadn't been expecting it! 

I'm really pleased I had the chance to try this out before doing it for myself because when I do I will make the foot longer and the toe correspondingly shorter, as I think the toe as written is far too long and pointy, and I will knit the toe in stocking stitch. Because taking the pattern to the toe seems a bit OTT to me.