river rapids progress

We have two socks with two heels and a few more rows each. I've learned to put them down just after doing one of the YO rows so I can see where I am more easily. There are two stretches in the pattern where there are three rows of stockinette. I don't know about you but for me it's hard to see, with dark yarn as fine as sock yarn, whether I've done two rows of stockinette or three rows of stockinette (or four) but a few rows later, it's quite apparent if you've done too many rows of stockinette. Ask me how I know.

If you're looking at sockbug's river rapids sock pattern , I think you'll find a cast on of 64. Well, 64 is usually a bit loose for me, so I dropped the 8 repeats of the 8 stitch pattern to 7 repeats, making my cast on 56. Now, one of the reasons I tell you this is that you may wonder how I'm handling the half on the heel, half on the top, usual division for non-stockinette patterns on socks. Well, what I like better than half and half is the smaller half in pattern on the instep and the bigger half in stockinette on the sole. To be more specific, I am continuing 3 repeats of the river rapids chart on the top of my sock and have what would have been 4 repeats of the chart in stockinette doing the heel and continuing on the sole. And to be even more specific, I kept the two purls going on both edges.

So what we have in the foot portion of the sock is
p2, mid-chart YOs and ssk/k2tog, p2, mid-chart..., p2, mid-chart..., p2, k32
[Yes, it adds up to 58. I added a coupla' stitches because it was a smidge snug.]

The chart has one purl stitch on each edge but my brain doesn't think that way, so, for me it's purl 2.

Angeluna asked why I was trying a new heel. Well, I don't have a good answer. I guess, we might say, because it's there. I have been finding that YO heel in patterns I read, from time to time. And it flabbergasted me the first time I read the interweave article. But now I get it. And I do like it a lot. It's easier to me, except for those pesky sssk's, than the wraps. The yos make little paired stitches that are easier to see than those little wraps which can be difficult to see. And to pick up. And I like the end result better. As far as fit, I think it's very similar to a short row heel done with wraps. And for fit, I recommend doing a short row heel over a number of stitches greater than half. Here I used 30 instead of 28 (which is half of 56).

For those of you who may read Sensational Knitted Socks, which I recommend, by the way, sometimes the author will tell you what sizes you can make a sock, and how many to cast on, and there's a gap between one size and another, and perhaps your foot is in that gap, it may be because she doesn't usually recommend an odd number of repeats. [Gracious, that's a long sentence. But I'm keeping it. ;)] If you're of a mind to, you can extend and adapt Schurch's chart/pattern to use an odd number of repeats and fill the gap and fit your foot.

In other news, I wound a ball of my new koigu. And I do wish I could show it to you as it is yummy. And I wish you could feel it, so sproingy. Is that how you spell sproingy?

There are no pics in this post because the camera batteries are dead. And the AAs in the battery drawer were apparently put there by someone who thought maybe there was some life left in them. There is not. So until later today when more batteries will be bought, there are no pictures.

more later,
j