Hot Rods, Wheat Sheaves, and rolling in the hay

My fifth pair of socks for the 20/10 sock challenge is complete! Half way! For July, the solid sock knit-a-long group over at Ravelry challenged us to knit a solid colored sock inspired by our flag's colors. I found a sport weight yarn called "Hot Rod Red" - what could be more American than hopped up muscle cars? Then I saw this pattern by Gina House and knew I had a good match.

The textured diamonds and ribbing reminded me of the star field and stripes on the US flag. The stitch pattern is called "Wheat sheaves," another icon of midwestern America. Even the title of the pattern, "A Roll in the Hay" reminded me of some twangy country songs I've heard.