Happy Heel

I am so happy. I either have a very kind and accomadating spouse, or my fudges worked just fine on the socks. Or perhaps both.

I have finished the gusset increases today, and am in the process of turning the heel.
Here is the heel in process. The rubberbands help to tell me when to turn to short row a la Crazy Toes and Heels (http://www.queenkahuna-creations.com/).







I do a slipstitch heel as well as adding reinforcement -- my DH and I both wear out toes and heels, so I reinforce them. These had Skacel's darning thread incorporated. I used black. The toes used a purple thread that I can't find more of.






This is by far my favorite way to do socks. I do both at once, toe up and use lots of rubberbands. ;) I also have two long strands of dental floss here -- just before I began the heel. This is because, eventually, after many, many times I have learned a lesson. If I knit socks for someone else (read DH), I will make the foot too short. Or the heel will turn out odd and wonky. Or I will suddenly remember I forgot the reinforcement. I've also learned to put a safety pin or a large locking stitch marker in the cable loop on the sock that isn't being worked on. A friend and customer taught me this one. It's fantastically brilliant. Otherwise, I tend to concentrate so much on one sock that I ignore the other when I turn the heel only to find that the "magic" loop for the other sock has magically disappeared. Vanished. No trace. Lots of cursing. Lots of counting. Precious heel turning minutes lost. :)

And here is the heel successfully turned, and it fits his foot! Yea! And the heel looks like a cuff down sock. Way cool. :)Now, for the second one! :)

And then . . . the cuff. And decision time on what lace pattern in which to work it. Hmmm. . .