This was a pattern (round #4) for Sock Madness 15, a speed knitting contest. (See the Sock Madness Forever group for more information.)

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“Little Etude” (“Kleine Studie”) is part 14 of Robert Schumann’s Album for the Young (Op. 68, 1884), a collection of beginner’s pieces he wrote as piano lessons for his 3 small daughters.
Schumann’s little étude helps piano students to develop finger independence when playing a clear melody overlaying a background of evenly flowing arpeggios.
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The pattern of these socks is a little study of some of the possibilities provided by the “vertical-floats” method used to embellish the back of traditional Samí mittens.
In 2008, I had seen Lene Alve’s “Rovaniemi mittens”, a modern take on a 100 year old pair, and ever since I wanted to find out what one could do with that concept in a sock – this pattern is the result.

As is the case for every étude, your fingers will take some time getting used to the new technique. But soon you’ll find yourself doing it quite naturally and you can watch the lines of color develop on the textured background - just like the melody line appears in Schumann’s Little Etude once you’ve mastered it.