Friday, August 12, 2011

"Socks a la Carte": A new book...

I was excited to find this book 1/2 price at the Sock Summit a few weeks back.

I've been on a mission for the past several months to figure out
how to knit a good looking short row heel (with no holes or big gaps). 

After countless hours of scouring the Internet for tutorials
and several failed attempts at short row heels
... at last, a great looking
SHORT ROW HEEL....
thanks to the instructions in my new book!



The end of the book is quite fun.  The last several pages are split into thirds so you can mix and match the cuffs, legs, heels & toes.  Fun!

This is the sock I want to make...
k1p1 rib, 
Surfin' Leg, 
short row heel, 
round toe.

The tricky thing about this method of heel is that there are some "k3togethers" as well as some "purl3together through the back loop", with the latter being even tricker than the former.  Most of the patterns in the book call for casting on 64 stitches, which I find to be a rather large sock, even on really small needles.  The patterns in the book are designed to a sock yarn called Tofutsies, which is rather light weight it seems. I think I'll have to alter the patterns a bit to use the yarn I have on hand, but I am excited to have added this book to my collection.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello, I was wondering if this heel is easy to do , as I have struggled with short row heels , mine always have gaps in , any help would be good , thank you.

Kim said...

L. Passman: I found this heel pretty easy to do BUT I had holes/gaps, too. They were not really big or anything and I actually really liked the socks, but I wore the heel out in these socks. I am thinking the heel I ordinarily complete with heel flap, heel turn, and gusset is much more sturdy than the short row heel. There are lots of short row heel patterns out there and many involve wrapping and turning stitches, and picking up the wraps. I found that process confusing and difficult.