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January 7, 2008

Sock Construction

I know I told you that I've been working on a pair of socks from Cat Bordhi's new book. I just turned the heel on the second sock and was struck again by the brilliance of the construction. I'm generally the kind of person that values tradition - I mean traditions are important in our every day life. However, I'm not the kind of person that will never look at anything new just because that's the way it's always been done. That's how I feel about the heel flap and gusset sock construction. I like it, it works, and there's a reason it's a classic. However, I'm not opposed to trying something new. Enter the new Cat Bordhi book.

This particular pattern has you do about 6 inches of the leg and then you start the increases on the instep and ribbing on the back.

Then you do the heel. This pattern calls for a reinforced heel, which I've never used on the bottom of a sock, but I assume it will wear much better than a plain heel. There's nothing particularly unique about the heel, but I do really like her instructions for short-row wraps and picking up the wraps. Her method makes for a wonderfully smooth heel.

After you turn the heel you work the "back of the heel." This is done in sl1, k1 repeat as well and this is where you add the plain stitches back in (I'm not sure that's the right description) by working until 1 stitch before the gap, decreasing across the gap, and turning until all the stitches are worked (is that a short-row too?). When the heel is done you start in the round again with the instep stitches. You don't pick up a single stitch and there aren't any holes! What's not to love about that?

And then you knit until it's time to do the toe. Oh, and she tells you how to use your row gauge to calculate exactly how much length the toe will add, so you know exactly when you need to start on the toe. Brilliant!