Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Tight socks

I got as far as the shortrow heels for Rising Flames (aka after-the-fact falling leaves) and gave them another try-on.



Owie.



They fit beautifully through the toes and up to the mid-instep (where you see the little white thread), and then get really tight. This is very strange, as I have particularly wide feet, and the ball of the foot is usually the problem for me. I've looked at all the sock patterns I can find online, and all of the shortrow heel patterns instruct you to just knit a tube between the toe and the heel. The only sock pattern I used before that (top-down with heel flap) had me make a gusset. Maybe I ought to rip back to mid-instep, and start doing some decreases towards the underside?



Also, my shortrow heels are tiny. They're just about the right width, but are really short/shallow. I'd expect the heel to come up to just under the ankle bone, but they only make the halfway mark. Are they supposed to be like that? Do I just have the world's tiniest row gauge? If so, is there anything I can do about it?

Sigh. I am probably the only person on earth who gets shortrow wraps, but still has trouble with shortrow heels.

That said, I love the technique (make so much SENSE) and I love this yarn (thanks SP!).

And I've never been one to mind a little frogging. Now if only I had added lifelines...

5 Comments:

Blogger Danielle said...

Jess, have you thought about doing a toe-up sock with a gusset? Here is one pattern that I've used ... http://www.socknitters.com/toe-up/ ... and I know Lucy has one with a different variation of heel ...

6:02 PM  
Blogger Theresa said...

I think it's just a YMMV type of deal - I also find my short row heels to be shallow and not that comfy in the upper foot. Gussets I think are much more anatomic - that's what our feet look like.

5:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great socks Jess. I love the colourway! Just wanted to say that I'm just back from the post office having sent your last package. I hope it arrives ok :)
Happy Knitting
Your OSSP x

5:25 AM  
Blogger Rhonda the Stitchingnut said...

Hi Jess, Maybe the length of the tube for you foot before you begin the heel has something to do with it being too short. The foot should be no more than 2 inches from the end of your heel. Here's a good short row heel pattern that I've used: http://www.socknitters.com/toe-up/
Here's another one that I like from Ozyarn.com called the Easy Sock http://web.archive.org/web/20040613083041/www.ozyarn.com/easySock_AL.pdf
and it has you use a few more stitches for the heel section when doing the short row heel ... 60% is the formular. So if you have 60 stitches then 34 stitches should be worked for the heel. Hope that's the answer.

But after all is said... I like the heel flap & gusset method the best myself. But great to know all types of heels.... right? LOL

6:18 AM  
Blogger Jen said...

I'm pretty late to the party here, but did you ever figure out an answer to your issue here? I think it's perfectly acceptable to throw in a few increases for your instep if it feels like you should... I've even seen some books (though I can't remember which right off the top of my head) mention adding a few plain rows of knitting right after/before the heel turn (depending on whether you're knitting from the cuff or the toe) in order to extend the heel area before returning to the pattern. This way the pattern doesn't extend uncomfortably down into your shoes. I've never done it before, but it makes sense to me...

2:09 AM  

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