Clocked Hose?

[sockknitter]

Clocks may have started out as embroidery to cover seams, but on a knit stocking, the clocking evolved into a patterned stitch, different from the rest of the leg of the hose. I think clocks now can either be done w/ different colors, or with different stitches. Nancy Bush's book, Folk Socks has an example of stockings w/ clocks where the different stitch starts just below the calf, and extends down to have one split going down to the bottom of heel, and the other fork heading further into the instep.

Bush explains that clocks were "inspired by the country stockings found in many parts of Europe.The clocks....have been created with knit and purl stitches. The silk stockings of the wealthy often had embroidery or fancy patterns at the ankles and the style was adopted for general use."

So, clocks started with the moneyed and landed gentry. It may have been a status symbol, being a fancier dress sock than, say, a hunting sock. And was emulated by the rabble?