Back to Our Irregularly Scheduled Knitting

So, knitting.. I've been doing a bit of that of late.

First, I finished a hat in a few days:


Odessa, by Grumperina. I used left-over Andean Treasure from knitting Blaze. Less than one ball later, I have a warm and fuzzy head covering. Only problem, it doesn't cover my ears. I'm considering picking up and knitting a longer ribbed band, to hopefully cover my ears. So far, I've just been wearing the hat.

I omitted the beads because I didn't have any and I wanted a hat NOW. I love the different orientation the stripes take, just by the increases and decreases. It was a fun, quick knit and I got to try out my new KnitPick Options kit. (Which, by the way, I LOVE. LOVE.)

And then.. the first of the Eagle's Flight Socks:

I've even cast on for the second sock. I really like this pattern - it is a six round repeat, and half of the repeat is simply knitting or purling the stitches as they appear. I tried something different on the heels for this sock - I like the results.


It is a little hard to tell in that picture, so I highlighted the changes with blue in this one:Looking at all of my purchased socks, I realized that many of them had a weird y-shape in their short-row heels. I figured that they knit a normal short row heel as normal, wrapping and turning as they worked towards the middle. When I had about 1/3 of the stitches wrapped, I started working back out the normal way - double wrapping, then picking up and knitting the two wraps and double wrapping the next stitch. I did that for four stitches total - two on each side, and then started decreasing again - single wrap and then turn around and head back to the other side again. I re-worked the four stitches I had worked earlier, then continued normally again.

I realize that doesn't exactly make sense, but I'm not sure how else to explain it. Has anyone seen this type of heel before? Instructions for it? Once you understand how to knit a short row heel, I think it makes sense.

But that results in the y-shape and helps the heel really cup around your heel. It isn't that much more work, but the sock fits a bit better. A few socks I've knit with short-row heels ended up a little tight in the heel/instep area, and this seems to fix that problem. All in all, I'm looking forward to wearing these socks.

I realize that there are holes in my heel. I've only recently realized that you're supposed to knit the wraps as you work back out. I've tried it a few times, and never liked the look. So I tend not to do so. I recently got a copy of New Pathways For Sock Knitters, so I'm going to try those instructions and try that. But the holes are a result of the way I personally deal with the wraps, not the addition of my "y." So don't like that keep you from trying it yourself.

Look at the pretty scalloped edges that the pattern creates at the top, too: