I Make Pretty Things With String

I started knitting a pair of socks after Thanksgiving. I was hoping to get them completed to give to my sister for Christmas. That shouldn't really be much of a problem. Some people can complete a pair of socks in a day if they are doing nothing else. I, however, am not some people.

It took me a week of knitting to master Judy's Magic Cast On, and then some to decide that eight and twelve stitches per needle were simply too pointed of a toe. I need fourteen to make the toe comfortable. then I knit the eight and three quarters of an inch to complete the foot only to be stumped at creating an acceptable heel. I want a heel without holes that looks at least comparable to what can be bought in a store. I've made other socks with a flap and gusset heel, but I was not at all pleased with the look or the feel of it. To add to the dissatisfaction of it, I do not enjoy the fiddliness of trying to pick up stitches on the sides of the flap. I knew that I didn't want that. I had planned to use a German Short Row heel.

German Short Row Heel  (I didn't knit this sock)

But as I was knitting it, I realized that the short rows were leaving a lacy line on either side of the heel. It's fine, but I didn't want the holes. So I decided that instead of German Short Rows, I should try to do a Wrap and Turn Short Row. It wasn't much of an improvement in closing up the holes. At this point Christmas had passed and the new year was approaching. I didn't want to bring the frustration of the project into it. So I switched yarns and tried again to create a sock that I can knit without tears and wear proudly.

Forethought Heel (I did not knit this sock)

After several attempts with the new socks I gave up on the idea of a short row heel and decided that I should attempt a Forethought Heel. That in the least keep me from wanting to pull the needles and throw all of my sock yarn to the curb. I have been afraid of this heel because it requires that you mark the heel location with a length of scrap yarn and pick up all of the stitches around it when you are ready to work the heel. I knitted what looked like tube socks and finished them off with two by two ribbing and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Stretchy Sewn Bind Off.  Then it was time to return to the heels. Picking up the stitches was fiddly, as I had expected it would. But I much prefer it to picking up stitches on a heel flap. After getting all the stitches back on the needles knitting the heel was a breeze and left no holes to have to patch up on the sides. I Kitchener stitched the final 12 stitches of the heel and I was done. I had not started with the intention of having a seamless sock, but after all was said and done, that's what I have.

I've washed the socks and have them laying flat to dry and started to knit the original pair of socks, that I will give to my sister when they are done. But now I have my own "How I knit my socks" pattern. It's only taken me two months to come up with what some people are accomplishing in a day. Gratefully this second pair is going a lot faster. I expect to finish them within the week.