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janestarzAfter turning the heel there was still a bit at the bottom of the foot that still needed some work. This sock pattern features a "small heel" and it means knitting short rows over 30 stitches. I've done this before in socks that weren't strictly speaking the right size, but they didn't feature a gusset or extra stitches for the ankle.
(My sock-knitting life changed for the better once I started following patterns and needle sizes. Everyone has their own knitting hand: some people knit perfect socks on needle 2.25 mm while others need a 2.75 mm needle to get the perfect size. It looks like I'm pretty average with my 2.5 mm for 60-65 stitches.)
The heel is done and I can now continue in the round
After turning the heel I needed to knit part of the bottom of the foot in stockinette and I just finished this last night (hence the slightly blurry picture, it was taken under a daylight lamp). Normally you'd start knitting in the round after finishing the heel, but this sock didn't - there were still far too many stitches on the needle. I had to continue knitting the bottom of the foot only, making sure to knit the first stitch at either side together with the last stitch of the bottom part. It means decreasing a stitch every row, until you get the right number of stitches. All the stitches I increased for the gusset are for the top of the foot, leaving the old front-of-leg stitches to travel down the side of the ankle and be slurped up in the decreases of the foot.
It means I've also done quite a bit of the bottom of the foot already by the time I start knitting in the round again. As much as I like stockinette, it's slightly more fun if you do it in the round. I took this picture right after dinner, and then continued knitting for a while, so I'm already further down the foot.
It's an interesting sock architecture, to be sure! I've done socks with a heel flap and socks with a gusset -- both account for a need for extra stitches around the ankle -- but also a simple 60-sts short row-heeled sock that had no such luxury architecture. And the best part is: it all fits! Some of it fits better than the rest, but I suppose everyone has their favourite method and fit. Just like with other clothes and accessoiries.
Next steps.
Now it will go really fast, all the difficult parts are done and all my mistakes are fixed. I'll continue on the foot until it's time to decrease for the toes!
(My sock-knitting life changed for the better once I started following patterns and needle sizes. Everyone has their own knitting hand: some people knit perfect socks on needle 2.25 mm while others need a 2.75 mm needle to get the perfect size. It looks like I'm pretty average with my 2.5 mm for 60-65 stitches.)
The heel is done and I can now continue in the round
After turning the heel I needed to knit part of the bottom of the foot in stockinette and I just finished this last night (hence the slightly blurry picture, it was taken under a daylight lamp). Normally you'd start knitting in the round after finishing the heel, but this sock didn't - there were still far too many stitches on the needle. I had to continue knitting the bottom of the foot only, making sure to knit the first stitch at either side together with the last stitch of the bottom part. It means decreasing a stitch every row, until you get the right number of stitches. All the stitches I increased for the gusset are for the top of the foot, leaving the old front-of-leg stitches to travel down the side of the ankle and be slurped up in the decreases of the foot.
It means I've also done quite a bit of the bottom of the foot already by the time I start knitting in the round again. As much as I like stockinette, it's slightly more fun if you do it in the round. I took this picture right after dinner, and then continued knitting for a while, so I'm already further down the foot.
It's an interesting sock architecture, to be sure! I've done socks with a heel flap and socks with a gusset -- both account for a need for extra stitches around the ankle -- but also a simple 60-sts short row-heeled sock that had no such luxury architecture. And the best part is: it all fits! Some of it fits better than the rest, but I suppose everyone has their favourite method and fit. Just like with other clothes and accessoiries.
Next steps.
Now it will go really fast, all the difficult parts are done and all my mistakes are fixed. I'll continue on the foot until it's time to decrease for the toes!
