Mamluke 1 revealed

socky:


sockier:


sockiest:


The first Sockapaloooza sock is done! As a reminder, the pattern is the Mamluke socks, from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I just finished it, and please note that it's not blocked yet. It will look a lot nicer after a good soak, and some manipulation to help stitch evenness. I don't think I'll need to block for size at all. And yeah, I realize that the photo isn't the greatest. I didn't realize how uneven the light was until after I uploaded the photos to my computer. I'll get better shots when I have the finished pair to show off.

preliminary notes:

• Knit on size 1 and 2 DPNs. (All of the leg on size 2, heel on size 1, foot on size 2 through row 20 of the diamond pattern, then switched to size 1 for the remainder.)
• I knew fewer repeats of the diamond pattern on the leg. The sock leg ended up being the length I wanted. It's just that, as written, the leg would be longer than I anticipated from the photos. I wanted to go for a short/medium length leg because I don't really know a lot about the size of my sock pal's leg. Stranded colorwork isn't extremely stretchy, so better safe than sorry.
• The Yarn Harlot was really helpful when it came to the heel. I was unsure about the fit of the heel, and she reassured me that both pairs she knit fit both of their recipients perfectly, even in the heel. It's just a different sort of heel than we're used to. The heel is fine on these. I'll post a photo of how it fits on the foot when I finish the pair.
  

I've heard rumors that it could be considered inappropriate to Muslims to walk on "Allah", the script for which appears on both the ankle and foot of the sock. I'm a bit unsure about the verity and/or universality of this, as the original sock which the Mamlukes are based on (and almost identical to) have "Allah" on the foot, also. Why would that knitter, who was presumably of the Muslim faith, have knit them that way if it was considered offensive or wrong in their own religion? I actually contacted a couple of people who may have more insight into this from a cultural and religious perspective (one of whom knit a sock from the same original sample, for a museum, also with "Allah" on the foot), but since I didn't hear back from either of them, I went with my gut and knit the pattern as written. (I was raised Jewish, and worked on these during the Jewish Sabbath, so if I'm wrong I'm an equal opportunity religious offender!)