Monday, September 11, 2006

A short exploration of rows

Since last Wednesday, I have completed this:

1/2 Fleece Artist sock.JPG

A short-row heel, top-down! Which wasn't that hard, minus the wraps, but I'll get to that later. I've been knitting this sock pretty fast, since I can work on it while I read. I'll have to take another picture when it's not cloudy out, as the cloudy day - despite the natural light - really doesn't do the colors justice. I'm pretty much into the groove for studying for my second exam, though I think I'm a little calmer about it this time. I haven't, for example, been dreaming about the topic of whatever books I happen to be focusing on in a particular week. What a nice relief!

You might wonder about the little wooden smiley face. It's a back-rubbing device, and darned effective, too! My shoulders had been hurting much of last week, and Advil wasn't helping, heat wasn't helping; the only thing which has made a significant dent in the back pain has been that little guy right there. Highly recommended.

But now, on to the short rows. One of these things is NOT like the other.

short row heel 1.JPG short row heel 2.JPG

These are images of the two sides of my short-row heel. The short rows look nothing alike. What's up with that? Did I wrap wrong? Pick up the wraps wrong? Turn wrong? (OK, so I doubt that last one.) I wasn't following any specific method of wrapping, just around and around until it was wrapped. As for picking up the wraps, I slipped the unworked stitch to the right needle and then slid the left needle under the wraps, and then I slid the stitch back to the left needle and knitted or purled together. And I got consistent results on both sides, obviously.

So far - and I've worked well past there already - it seems that the short row fits my heel nicely. (I do like the traditional look of the heel flap, though, so maybe I can work on getting it to fit more snugly). Nonetheless, I will probably try a few more short row heels, which means I'd like to clean up the short rows, if the fit still feels nice once the sock is done, on my foot, and in a shoe. Any suggestions?

It's kind of a relief to write in a straightforward manner!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The yarn you are using looks so yummy!!

I've never tried a top-down, short-row heel, yours looks great!

Anonymous said...

My short rows always look different on either side. I'm not sure why. They just do.

I love the colors you're using.

Sarah said...

No idea what happened with one side Vs. the other! Wish I did!

Maybe post a link in the knitty board and someone far wiser than I will help!

Zarzuela said...

The only thing I can think of is that maybe you didn't pick up both wraps on one of the sides? Otherwise I'm clueless....


Jessica
http://zarzuelaknitsandcrochets.com/blog

Anonymous said...

The colors are great- what yarn are you using? I have actually only done the short-row heel once, and it was a bit intimidating, but neato.

(My IE is still not allowing me to see the comments on your blog, but Firefox works, so I am back, finally)

Lone Knitter said...

That yarn is gorgeous. Your short-rows look great. You know, my heel flaps always look better on one side. I have no idea why this is. I think it might be because I have a loose purl stitch.

sheep#100 said...

I like that top edging on the sock.