PAIRfect Socks No. 2: Complete

PAIRfect Socks No. 2

I've been on a mission to complete partially finished projects and it sure feels good!

Here is my latest completed project. 

I don't ordinarily block my socks but my knitting in these socks got a bit wonky here and there. I think it's a problem with my tension.  I blocked these socks by soaking them in a little tepid water with a tiny bit of Eucalan, and the knitting looked much better.

I was reading a pattern recently. It's a sock pattern called Rolled City Rollers; I will make this pattern soon.  The pattern author indicated she knits her socks with five needles (the sock stitches divided on four needles and then knit with one needle) because she felt it helped her keep her tension more even; I ordinarily knit my socks with four needles (the sock stitches divided on three needles and then knit with one needle).  This was a "light bulb" sort of moment for me because I do notice, when I have a larger number of stitches on one needle when knitting socks, that is where I notice my stitches getting significantly looser.

In these socks, I used a "Strong Heel".  You can read more about the Strong Heel here:

https://www.theknittingsquirrel.com/heather-socks-featuring-the-strong-heel/

To me, the Strong Heel is just like the Fleegle Heel.  I have not studied them well enough to know the difference but they sure seem similar to me.  The only difference being that you use a Fleegle Heel when knitting socks from the toe up and you use the Strong Heel when knitting socks from the cuff down.

The Strong Heel is not ideal for this yarn.  The yarn I use is Schachenmayr Regia "Pairfect" Design Line by Arne & Carlos.  You can see, in the photo below, that the socks are designed to end with pink at the toe.  When you knit a Strong Heel, you use more yarn than with a traditional heel flap, heel turn, and gusset.  This happens because, when you knit a Strong Heel (and also a Fleegle Heel), you continue to knit the instep stitches WHILE you work the heel. When you knit a traditional heel flap/turn, gusset, the instep stitches are placed on hold (unworked) for a while.  I used up all my pink heel yarn and then had to use some of the pink yarn intended for the toe in the heel.  I made it work but it meant I had to fiddle with the yarn in spots to get the right color where I wanted it.  And the beauty of the Pairfect Design Line yarn is that you should be making two perfectly matching socks without having to work so hard at it.

I have one more pair of PAIRfect socks to make.  But I need to finish up more unfinished objects before casting on.