Good thing I like it

On Friday, I cast on for a sock.

I had a good long time to sit and just crank away on it, so I worked some ribbing, and then switched into what I was doing for the leg - mostly stockinette, but with some fanciness worked in for interest - and managed to get as much leg as I think I want, and started in on the heel flap. I worked a handful of rows back and forth, and then I had to set it aside.

Then the weekend got busy, and I didn't manage to pick it up again until today. At which point I looked at what I'd done previously, and I paused.

On Friday, I had pondered the type of heel flap I wanted - your standard slipped stitch heel flap - and had arranged things so that the flap would be worked over 31 stitches, which is one less than half of the total stitches (64). I had done this to achieve symmetry in the faux-ribbing of the slipped stitch pattern. When I picked up the sock today, however, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I had felt that that was necessary. It seemed that if I was working sl1, k1 over 32 stitches, I should end with a k1, which is perfect for when I turn and slip the first stitch before purling back. Worked over an odd number of stitches, I needed to end each row with a k2.

I pulled the heel flap out, rearranged my stitches to get 32 for the heel flap, and started over.

On the third row, I realized what I'm sure I knew on Friday. Working this pattern over an even number of stitches gets you an asymmetry in the faux ribs - you end up with two sets of slipped stitches right beside each other, as one is slipped on each side. Working over an odd number of stitches with the k2 at the end of the right side rows fixes this - it gives you the appropriate ditch between columns of slipped stitches, since that last knit stitch is slipped at the beginning of the wrong side rows.

Out the heel flap came again - not as much as before, but still - and I had another crack at it. I'm now back to where I was when I stopped on Friday.

In other news, it's way too freaking hot to put on a handknit DK-weight pullover, so I'm fixing to take some unmodeled shots of my latest two sweater adventures - one is soaking in the sink, the other waits in a dresser drawer. I also have a couple of other items to block and move once and for all into the Finished pile.

And I need a new sweater project. I think I might actually get over myself and start my Geodesic Cardigan. Lace weight yarn sounds just about right - I considered winding up some worsted and had a brief existential crisis upon realizing that the notion didn't get me obsessively excited. I think maybe I should stay away from thicker yarns for just a bit. I think these fingers want to play with some skinny yarns for a while. Maybe another shawlette is in my immediate future.

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