Socks Socks Socks!

I have been sock knitting quite a lot lately. They're fairly quick to knit, as straight-forward as I choose them to be, and very useful! Even the husband can appreciate his lovely woolies.

A couple months back I finished a pair of Cookie A socks for myself. Up until that point, I had only knit him socks of her design (that's a whole other conversation to have, since I tend to just wing my socks and choose possibly the most complex patterns for him). I finished them and happily put them on. Only to realize that they just didn't fit me all that well. They were snug in all the wrong places, and quickly began to sag on the leg. Oh well, they still keep me warm.

The next pair I made for myself were toe up, winged for the most part from a few comments on Ravelry regarding the pooling of that particular yarn. I went toe up in pattern, decided on a short row heel to maintain the color pooling as best I could, then went up the leg. They are a touch long in the foot, but otherwise are very cozy and stay where I want them.

Now the strange part, I am doing my best to alternate between socks for me and socks for him. So I was toying with ideas for his next pair. I thought about just winging them, since they're out of a multi, space-dyed yarn. When it came time to actually sit down with the yarn and needles, I pulled out Sock Innovation once again! What could I possibly be thinking. It wasn't so much the complex design (I don't want something with too many cable crossings to keep the socks a bit thinner in the shoe, or with too many complex stitches due to the color changes) but rather the top down style.

I have fallen into a pattern of knitting for myself toe up and knitting for him cuff down. I have never really gotten the spacing right on my own cuff down socks, so I've found myself drawn to the toe up. Most of these have had a standard (or garter stitch) short row heel with decent results. There are two other options I have considered. The first and most conventional being a heel flap, a la Toe up Two at a Time Socks. The other being inspired by store bought socks (they are running socks, a function I can't quite use hand knit socks for year round) that have as far as I can tell a "Y" shaped short row heel. This could help with the fit and spacing of the heel. On the garter stitch short row heel, it is painfully obvious that the heel itself does not actually cover my heel. I think a "Y" shaped short row heel would solve some of this (and in the case of the garter stitch short row heel provide much more lovely cushion).

So, for now, I shall be working on a pair of large men's socks (though these aren't black, so I'll be fine) before I will be able to explore more heel construction options for myself.